‘David Beckham was offered a new contract by Manchester
United on May 14 - three days after the England captain
celebrated winning his sixth Premiership title with the club
he joined on his 14th birthday.
‘That was when SFX's Tony Stephens, Beckham's adviser, met
Peter Kenyon, United's chief executive, at Old Trafford. But
Beckham did not see this contract until Sunday, having spent
the last month either with England or in the United States.
By then, it was irrelevant.
‘As the season just finished came to a climax, and with just
two years of Beckham's contract to run, United were anxious
to find out whether he would be interested in a new one.
What they did not want was another 18 months of
negotiations, which would have taken Beckham perilously
close to the time when he could walk away for free.
‘The previous deal had been negotiated against a background
of Sir Alex Ferguson himself retiring and the board looking
for a replacement. But Ferguson changed his mind and this
time there was no disguising the end of their surrogate
father/adopted son relationship.
‘Beckham had his own circle and had replaced all his old
advisers with those supplied by his wife, Victoria, apart
from Stephens. His treatment by England also seemed to put
Beckham on a pedestal far removed from the collectivist team
philosophy Ferguson espouses.
‘Had Beckham gone to La Manga for the recent England
training camp, he would have been in a special villa
separate from the other players, news which further raised
eyebrows at Old Trafford.
‘Ferguson made it clear Beckham could go but was not happy
with the way that his name was linked with Real Madrid just
before United played them in the Champions League
quarterfinals in April.
‘I understand that sometime before the quarter-final
Stephens had been in contact with Real, AC Milan and Inter
Milan to test the waters. Jon Holmes, managing director of
SFX, refused to say any more than: "We have agreed with
Manchester United to say nothing for a period of time."
‘United read these moves as an indication that Beckham
wanted to leave Old Trafford, an impression that was
strengthened after a May 14 meeting between Kenyon and
Stephens. One source said: "I think Beckham's people were
surprised to find that these clubs were not breaking down
doors to sign Beckham."’