The Telegraph: Real Madrid will end Barcelona‘s interest in David Beckham by offering Manchester United a deal that will include Luis Figo and a cash supplement to end the months of wrangling over the England captain's future.
The Spanish side's offer of Figo, 30, will underline to United that Madrid are commited to signing Beckham and give Sir Alex Ferguson a player he tried to bring to Old Trafford almost three years ago.
Figo speaks excellent English and has a close relationship with Ferguson's assistant manager, Carlos Queiroz, who is widely credited with discovering Portugal's 'golden generation' of Rui Costa, Joao Pinto and Figo when he worked at the country's football federation.
A player exchange, plus an undisclosed sum to compensate for the 2.5-year disparity in the men's ages, would allow Madrid to concentrate their financial resources on improving their defence.
NOTW: AC Milan have been secretly negotiating to sign David Beckham for the last two months.
We can exclusively reveal the reigning European champions have leapt ahead of Barcelona and Real Madrid in the frantic scramble to sign the Manchester United superstar.
The Old Trafford club last night took the unprecedented step of confirming they are involved in ‘on-going' talks to sell Beckham, who will hold a clear-the-air meeting about his future next week when he returns from holiday in America.
Milan now hold the key cards — despite the extravagant claims from Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta, who promises in today's News of the World to deliver the England skipper to the Nou Camp.
Sunday Mirror: Although Barcelona are in the hunt, it now appears the race for his £25m signature will come down to Real Madrid and AC Milan.
The influence of Beckham's sponsors, adidas, appears significant. They have a major investment in both clubs.
The Independent: Barça's supposed interest could be a red herring. The club is in the throes of a presidential election and the various candidates feel obliged to announce the spectacular signings they are lining up as part of their campaign manifesto.
Apart from any other considerations - Barcelona have yet to secure a place in next season's European competitions beyond the Intertoto Cup - Laporta is not apparently leading the Barça presidential race. That honour, so rumour has it, belongs to Lluis Bassat, but then that may simply be a story that Bassat has put round himself, after all he is a publicist.
The Observer: United seem to have decided to cash in while Beckham's stock as a player and huge value as a commercial asset are at their peak. 'We have to look at the fact that he's got two years left on his contract and if he were to leave then on a Bosman free, that wouldn't be very good for Manchester United, would it?' said a club insider. 'If a club is prepared to pay a substantial sum for him, we would have to look at it.'
The widely quoted fee has been £30 million, but the club's interest in selling their most high-profile player is now so great that they will listen to offers as they seem to have concluded that £25million to £30million in a depressed market for a player who is 28 would represent good business. Losing his £90,000-a-week salary would reduce the annual wage bill by a staggering £4.5m.
The sportswear giants adidas, who sponsor both Beckham and Madrid, will encourage him to go there. Herbert Haimer, the firm's president, said last week: 'It is definitely an interesting option for him because Real are a great team. It would be in the firm's interest if the player wore Real's adidas kit.'
This significant development in the unfolding drama points to Beckham no longer being a United player by the time they leave on 19 July for a money-spinning tour of the United States. It includes friendlies against Celtic, Juventus, Barcelona and Club America of Mexico.
'It's 50?50 if he'll be with us by the time of the North American tour,' said a senior United source. 'No decisions have yet been made and no deal has been done with anyone, but it's in the balance if he's still with us by then. At the moment he will be, but a lot can happen before then.'
The Sunday Times: David Beckham could prove a bargain, even if the likes of Real Madrid have to pay £30m for him. Using Real as an example, financial analysts reckon the club would recoup the fee within four years. Their claim is based on a detailed assessment of the shirt sales of Real’s existing stars and of the Manchester United player’s global popularity.
The UK-based sports marketing firm Apex Sports expects sales of Beckham’s Real shirts to outsell Zidane’s. "We believe about 70,000 more Beckham-named shirts could be sold in Asia, where the guy is a superstar, than two years ago," said James Hardy, Apex’s managing director. "This equates to a net return of £8.35m for Real Madrid, or £33.4m over a four-year deal. Don’t forget that this figure excludes shirt sponsorship, the enhanced television value of Madrid games, and the additional leverage Beckham’s signature would give Real when dealing with all of its sponsors."
The figure also assumes that Beckham would enjoy a significant increase in the monetary value of his image rights. He receives about £1.04m a year in addition to a salary of £3.6m from Manchester United. At Real Madrid he could expect his image rights to fetch about £100,000 a week, tax-free.
The Mail on Sunday: With Champions League winners AC Milan, mighty Real Madrid and Catalan giants Barcelona believed to be lining up to pounce should the world's highest profile player decide he wants to sever his Old Trafford ties, Beckham clearly has a huge dilemma in front of him as he makes his way back from his current tour of the United States.
And the indications are that the 28-year-old will cut the umbilical cord and pursue his long-held dream of plying his trade on the continent.
