Posted January 11, 200718 yr YES! David Beckham is switching to L.A. soccer team!!! :o Beckham to quit Real and head for L.A. By Simon Baskett MADRID (Reuters) - Former England captain David Beckham will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and sign a five-year deal for MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy, he told Reuters on Thursday. "This week Real Madrid asked me to make a decision regarding my future and the offer to extend my contract for a further two seasons," said Beckham. "After discussing several options with my family and my advisors to either stay here in Madrid or join other major British and European teams I have decided to join LA Galaxy and play in the MLS from August this year. "I would like to thank supporters and the people of Madrid who have made my family and I so welcome in my time here making this an extremely difficult decision to make. "I have enjoyed my time here enormously and I am extremely grateful to the club for giving me an opportunity to play for such a great team and their amazing fans." Real Madrid confirmed that Beckham would not renew his contract with the club. "After a meeting this morning at the Bernabeu between the club and David Beckham's agents both parties decided that David would not extend his present contract with the club which ends on June 30, 2007," Real said on their Web site (www.realmadrid.com). The 31-year-old, who joined Real from Manchester United in June 2003, is the most famous player to sign up for Major League Soccer since it began in 1996. He is also the biggest name player to move to club soccer in the U.S. since the likes of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff played in the long-defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 1970s and early eighties. His deal is reported to be one of the biggest in global sport with Beckham set to earn more than $250 million over the duration of his contract.
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