Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello has dropped David Beckham, creating the possibility that Beckham/AEG will buy out his contract so he can debut for MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy at the start of the 2007 season in April, instead of in August as announced last Thursday.
“When a player has a contract with a different club, he can’t have the same desire in his play,” said Capello at a press conference on Saturday (video). “We don’t have any choice. We won’t count on him because he has committed himself to another club.”
Real Madrid management is furious with Beckham that he chose to turn down a new contract with Real Madrid and signed — without a transfer fee — a much-publicized deal estimated to be in excess of $250 million with the Galaxy.
“For months he was messing us around,” Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon told radio station Onda Madrid on Monday. In another interview with radio station Onda Cero, Calderon said: “I didn’t like the way Beckham conducted himself, announcing publicly that he had another team, doing a video-conference…”
Beckham’s season at Real Madrid is scheduled to end with the conclusion of La Liga season on June 17, and he wasn’t expected to play an MLS league game before August, but an accelerated arrival would certainly be good news for all MLS clubs. They are anxiously awaiting the release of the 2007 regular-season schedule to see if they host the Galaxy before or after Beckham arrives. His availability for the full season would allow all teams to create ticket packages around an ’07 Beckham game.
Capello has used Beckham infrequently since taking over as Madrid coach this season. He said Beckham could train with the team but would no longer play with the first team. The Italian put the burden on Beckham to sort out his immediate future.
“Is it better for him to go now? That’s a matter for Beckham,” he said. “It doesn’t depend on me if he goes now, it depends on him. Let’s see what he has to say, but he will not play for us.”
Beckham, who said he would give 100 percent to Real until the end of his contract, watched from the stands as Real Madrid beat Real Zaragoza, 1-0, on Sunday. Meanwhile, Beckham’s wife, Victoria, arrived in Los Angeles to begin house-hunting.