David Beckham to return to Galaxy
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David Beckham will return to Los Angeles Galaxy next month as scheduled after his loan agreement with AC Milan ends.
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber had insisted that a deal must be agreed before the weekend if Beckham was to leave the Galaxy.
And in the early hours of Saturday, Tim Lewieke - president of Galaxy parent AEG - said Milan didn't make a second offer to the Galaxy to keep Beckham, so the England midfielder would return to the MLS team next month after his loan agreement with the Rossoneri ends.
"We didn't receive an offer today," Leiweke told The Associated Press.
"We will abide by the commissioner's wishes, so we are clear at this point that he will be back here on March 9, and we don't want to have any further conversations.
"It is a distraction to (Galaxy Coach) Bruce Arena, the team and the fans and we move on. That's the last we're going to talk about this."
Leiweke said he had not spoken directly to Beckham, but that he informed the player's representatives the loan would not be made permanent.
Milan had already had one bid, thought to be in the region of £6 million, turned down by Galaxy with Leiweke saying the Italian giants had not come close to offering what Beckham is worth.
"I know David is emotionally invested, but I don't think Milan really was that interested in spending the money we would have had to receive to compensate us for our losses," Leiweke said.
"They've never been in the ballpark. What they've tried to do is use David and use us. We're not going to play that game any more. This has been extremely damaging and distracting for our team.
"I've been as courteous and as gracious as I possibly can out of respect for David, but now it's time to move on.
"We look forward to seeing David back in camp. We need to have a good season and we need to live up to a higher expectation."
Leiweke confirmed that Beckham has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave at the end of this year.
"Clearly the risk is we may lose him at the end of the year," he added. "Our hope is the team surprises him and we're a lot better than last year."
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Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber had insisted that a deal must be agreed before the weekend if Beckham was to leave the Galaxy.
And in the early hours of Saturday, Tim Lewieke - president of Galaxy parent AEG - said Milan didn't make a second offer to the Galaxy to keep Beckham, so the England midfielder would return to the MLS team next month after his loan agreement with the Rossoneri ends.
"We didn't receive an offer today," Leiweke told The Associated Press.
"We will abide by the commissioner's wishes, so we are clear at this point that he will be back here on March 9, and we don't want to have any further conversations.
"It is a distraction to (Galaxy Coach) Bruce Arena, the team and the fans and we move on. That's the last we're going to talk about this."
Leiweke said he had not spoken directly to Beckham, but that he informed the player's representatives the loan would not be made permanent.
Milan had already had one bid, thought to be in the region of £6 million, turned down by Galaxy with Leiweke saying the Italian giants had not come close to offering what Beckham is worth.
"I know David is emotionally invested, but I don't think Milan really was that interested in spending the money we would have had to receive to compensate us for our losses," Leiweke said.
"They've never been in the ballpark. What they've tried to do is use David and use us. We're not going to play that game any more. This has been extremely damaging and distracting for our team.
"I've been as courteous and as gracious as I possibly can out of respect for David, but now it's time to move on.
"We look forward to seeing David back in camp. We need to have a good season and we need to live up to a higher expectation."
Leiweke confirmed that Beckham has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave at the end of this year.
"Clearly the risk is we may lose him at the end of the year," he added. "Our hope is the team surprises him and we're a lot better than last year."
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Related links:
Team
Personal
Also see:
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