Beckham nearing Milan return

LA Galaxy hope to have David Beckham's loan move to AC Milan tied up within the next two weeks and admit that the ongoing speculation surrounding the former England skipper's future is far from helping their bid for the MLS Cup.

Galaxy, with Beckham's help, have qualified for the Major League Soccer play-offs for the first time in four years, but connections admit it is hard for the team to stay focused on the November 22nd final in light of the current situation.

Beckham hopes to tie up his return to Milan after a fruitful loan spell with the Rossoneri earlier this year. The 34-year-old is also keen to feature as much as possible on the pitch at club level as he prepares for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Tim Leiweke, chief executive of Anschutz Entertainment Group (owners of Galaxy), admits he will be happy when the deal is done.

"We want to get it done, for him and for us and I don't want any confusion," he said. "It's the same with Landon (Donovan), there are a lot of rumours whether he is staying or going.

"We're going to clear that up in the next two weeks because we want the team to be focused."

Leiweke admits he would welcome Beckham back to the club after the 2010 World Cup, despite the frosty reception he had when returning from his initial loan spell in Italy.

"I talk to David a lot and this year a lot more because I wanted to make sure he didn't get down and that it would work out," he said. "We have a deep appreciation of what he is doing over here with his national team. I wanted him to know that we will support him so we are going to lend him out."

Leiweke is also hoping Beckham can attract other big names to the club.

"If we don't have a player like David going around telling every other great player that we're co-operative and it's a great place to play and 'you really should go and do this', if we don't have him as our ambassador then we're never going to get other players to take that kind of risk," he said.

"That is the battle for us. We can't do this with one guy."

Although Leiweke is happy to loan Beckham to a European club prior to the World Cup, he is confident the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star will see out his contract with the Galaxy.

Beckham, 34, signed a five-year deal when he joined Galaxy in 2007.

Leiweke said: "We know he has to be playing in Europe leading up to the World Cup. That has been made clear to us, and we are going to support that.

"He will be somewhere come January and we will see him back in July.

"We have a contract and despite people thinking we're going to sell him, we're not. David is going to finish his career with the Galaxy."