FLETCHER THE NEW BECKHAM

Last updated : 19 March 2003 By Editor
The headline in the Italian daily newspaper, Corriere dello
Sport, read: "Beckham for Inter - Victoria has Chosen."
According to my journalistic colleague in Italy, Nicola
Tognetti, if not quite signed and sealed, the deal which
will deliver David Beckham unto Inter Milan has been agreed
in principle. "Everyone is awaiting his arrival," he told
me.

The proposed transfer makes sound business sense for all
the main parties involved; Sir Alex Ferguson desperately
needs the £50 million which the rumoured dual sale of
Beckham and Ryan Giggs would provide to finance the
rebuilding of Manchester United one last time before his
retirement.

But why is Sir Alex less than unhappy about the prospect of
bidding arrivederci to the England captain? Partly, as I
said, the money, but also because of the emergence of Darren
Fletcher, the "all skin and bone" teenager (as Ferguson
describes him).

Now a married man and father of two, Beckham has long since
outgrown the role of Sir Alex's "adopted son", a favoured
position within the Old Trafford family which appears to
have passed to Fletcher.

Pursued by Rangers, Celtic, Liverpool and Newcastle United
(among many others) as a 15-year-old, Fletcher decided upon
Manchester United after being invited to spend a night in
Ferguson's home, where the gaffer used all his persuasive
powers over a game of snooker. "Like all the other managers,
he said I'd get my chance," he explained. "The difference
was, when Sir Alex said it, I believed him."

That belief is now mutual; in Darren Fletcher, Ferguson
believes he has discovered the "new" David Beckham.