David Beckham's agent is in talks with AC Milan over a loan deal for the Los Angeles Galaxy and England midfielder, Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani said yesterday.
"Will he arrive? I believe so, yes. He will stay here at Milan on loan for some months, we are talking about it with his agent," Galliani told Milan's official website (www.acmilan.com).
The 33-year-old, who made his name at Manchester United where he won the 1999 Champions League, is one of the most famous and marketable footballers to ever play the game and Milan will look to cash in on and off the field.
"We will keep him for some months and then he will leave. Beckham has chosen Milan," Galliani added. "Our squad is ultra-competitive and it will stay like that but Beckham is something different and intriguing."
Media reports said Beckham would join in January during the US Major League Soccer close season in a bid to stay in England coach Fabio Capello's plans ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
During the last MLS close season, Beckham trained at Arsenal but was not allowed to play for the English Premier League club.
Rumors of Beckham at least training with Milan have increased in the last week. Coach Carlo Ancelotti was excited by the idea.
"For me it will be a pleasure. Beckham is a serious athlete, a great professional," he told Milan's website.
"If he will be available for four months with us, we will be very happy. If he becomes available for Milan it will obviously be both in Italy (Serie A) and in Europe (UEFA Cup)."
Ancelotti said on Saturday that the club had been close to signing him in the past but gave no details.
Beckham joined the MLS Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007 from Real Madrid where he had spent four years following an acrimonious departure from United.
His risky move to the United States was marketed as an attempt to boost soccer's popularity there but recently the challenge has begun to look beyond him.
(Agencies via China Daily October 23, 2008)