Galliani - Beckham deal 'soon'

AC Milan president confident but Gazidis says deal still at 'exploratory' stage

Last updated: 23rd October 2008

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AC Milan president Adriano Galliani believes the deal to bring David Beckham to the San Siro will soon be done.

The Italian giants want to secure the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder's services on a loan deal for a few months starting in January.

While Galliani told Conto TV before Thursday's Uefa Cup match with Heerenveen that 'the deal is not done yet', he added that he is 'confident' it will be soon.

He also appeared to suggest that the midfielder could stay in Italy beyond the term of the original deal.

But Major League Soccer deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis insists Beckham's potential move is still at an 'exploratory' stage.

Must return

The senior official, who has the final say on all player transactions including loans, said the deal will not go ahead unless Beckham returns for the opening of the MLS season in March.

"We are in exploratory talks to look at whether the opportunity makes sense for the Galaxy and David. If it does - and only if it does - then things will go forward," he said.

"I don't think the Galaxy have any interest in him missing regular season games.

"He would need to be back (for the MLS start), we are talking about a short term loan," added Gazidis, who compared the potential move to Swedish striker Henrik Larsson's brief spell with Manchester United, when he spent three months on loan from Helsingborg during the Swedish off-season last year.

Gazidis also rubbished reports that the loan could mark the beginning of the end for Beckham's career in America.

No suggestion

"There is absolutely no suggestion on anyone's part that David will not play for the full five years of his contract," he said.

Beckham is eager to play in Europe as the MLS season will soon be over and he needs to remain match-fit to keep his place in England's World Cup qualifying squad, whose boss Fabio Capello has said he will not pick players who are not active.

Gazidis said they would help Beckham's quest if possible.

"We have always been very supportive of David's desire to be part of the England set-up and we will continue to be so," said Gazidis.

"To have David playing at a high-level, match-fit and returning highly tuned, would be positive for the Galaxy and MLS."