David Beckham - LA Galaxy - WAGES!!

[Captain Obvious 1]

I don''t know what anyone else thinks about the ridiculous wages being paid to Beckham from the MLS side, but I think its massivley excessive!What really confuses me is that the MLS isn''t exactly the Premiership or Serie A, so how can a team from a second-rate league afford to pay him nearly £500k a week?? Thats at least 3 times as much as any player in a european league...

[Marty 0]

you can''t blame him for taking the offer but it is obsene really, half a million for kicking a bag of air, and to be honest he is past his best, I also think his best was not that good anyway. What did he do for England? a few decent free kicks, he was a bit of a one trick pony, never took a player on.

I also feel a bit embarrassed that he represents our country and he can barely string 3 words together, he may be a nice bloke but he is a bit dull and one dimensional. I can''t understand this deal at all, the rumours of his wife getting a chat show shock me even more. What happened to the days when you needed talent to succeed? Posh Spice, Jade Goody etc. I don''t get it!

[whoareyou? 0]

Frankly the money he is being paid is obscene. He''s already loaded so why does he need even more? Says a lot about what his motivation is these days and why he hasn''t played a decent game for a long time!

Sad too cos he was the best England had about 4 years ago.

[In Dubious Battle 0]

Don''t fully understand myself but i think some of it is sponsership deals, shirt/merchandise sales and profit share. Also although ''Soccer'' is not massive in the states Los Angeles has a population of just below 10,000,000 and California 36,000,000 thats a pretty big fan base even if only 1 in every 100 are interested, not forgetting the fact that there''s some stinking rich people live there.

[WilliamG 0]

i was under the impression that this deal also covers ''brand beckham'' in relation to the LA Galaxy. This would mean that Beckham would not get a cut of any merchandise which he is shown on etc  

[Darren Huckleberry 0]

Good luck to him.  He''s made a lot out of 2 decent free kicks for probably one of the most overrated footballers ever to pull on an Enland shirt.

[Karl Pilkington 0]

I think built into that is a clause where the club and the american "soccer league receive a proportion of the income from any merchandising and endorsements that he receives. Probably still works out the same as he was earning at Madrid.

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

Crazy money indeed and I think football becoming stupid with the excessive prices but David Beckham has taken the chance with both hands and good luck to him. Beckham is worth a mint due to his image etc and I''m sure he will do a lot to promote soccer in the US and LA Galaxy. It''s his career which he has made for himself so why should he be criticised for signing such a lucrative contract? Has no-one else decided to move jobs or company for more money??

Ok maybe playing in America doesn''t have the prestige of the premiership or Italy but Beckham has already played for two of the greatest teams in the world in two of the best leagues in the world - I can think of much worse ways to finish a career than with the security of a 5 year long £128m contract, living in Los Angeles which he and Posh will undoubtedly love with fantastic weather and being a big fish in a small pond at the football club.

I''d jump at the chance wouldn''t you??

[SM 0]

he gets a 10% cut of the profits they make on his brand aswell

[Saint Canary 0]

Despite what people say now, David Beckham (for a period) was one of the most productive players in the world and immense for England in the qualifiers for the World Cup in 2002. 

What really gets me about his move is not the amount of money he will earn but his complete of ambition to stay at the top of tree.  Towards his later days at Man U he seemed more and more interested in "brand Beckham" and his football career has been over ever since he became a "galactico".  Image, image and image has been what it''s all about for Beckham, he has bought into all the hype about and there has been little substance in his football for a long time.  He has been living off his reputation for at least two years.  He had a very poor World Cup for England, quit as captain and was then dropped from the squad.  For me David Beckham has a lot to prove and he could of came back to England to rebuild his reputation, get back in the England squad and prove he is still a top. Instead he has chosen (too scared?) to run off to play League One/Championship level football knowing he is going to look good without having to work as hard. 

Beckham was never the most gifted player but he still managed to be one of the Worlds best.  It''s sad to see he was never that interested in staying there.

[Darren Huckleberry 0]

"Ooooooh, I say Deirdre did you hear that?  That David Beckham is getting 20 million pounds a minute to kick a bag of wind about a field!!  That is obscene, what about all the homeless people and the poor old NHS?  I am going to send a letter to the editor of the Daily Mail in the morning".

"Why don''t you go online dear and send him an electronic mail?!"

"By jimminy Dierdre, I think that¨s the best idea you''ve had for ages I''m going upstairs to do it right this minute"

"Yes it was a spiffing idea darling because it gets you out of my airspace you boring old ****wit"

[YankeeCanary 0]

[quote user="Stephen Miller"]I don''t know what anyone else thinks about the ridiculous wages being paid to Beckham from the MLS side, but I think its massivley excessive!
What really confuses me is that the MLS isn''t exactly the Premiership or Serie A, so how can a team from a second-rate league afford to pay him nearly £500k a week??
Thats at least 3 times as much as any player in a european league...
[/quote]

The way that it''s being financed is that Arnold Shwartzenegger is revising the state budget for California and, as with all such flaky ventures in that state, a Proposition will be introduced to the people for a vote to secure the funds from the average taxpayer. They have not given the Proposition a number yet as people in California can not normally count that high. As a result the state is looking to hire a mathematician which, in itself, will raise the need for yet a further Proposition. This will be the largest Proposition since Prohibition, another good idea that simply invited the masses to embark upon a drunken adventure.

Should these Propositions fail it will be embarrassing for Arnold and he will likely suggest that his wife returns to work. If she refuses Arnold may be forced to go back into bodybuilding hoping for success. In short, what this all means is that David Beckham''s desire to impact significant growth of football ( soccer ) in the United States has as much chance  of success as Arnold has of managing ten push-ups.

[Hooleyfan 0]

The money he makes over there will allow him to buy Man U in 5 years ...do you think that is likely? Max Clifford thought he would do well to come back and be the first director/player...I''m not so sure that his life wont take even dizzier directions following a spell in the US.

[WalthamCanary 0]

He''s already calling football "soccer" - I personally like the fact that America isn''t into "English Football" - I''d rather they stay away from our blessed game.

I mean, why try and promote the game to a country that has already bought two of our Premiership clubs - thus ruining their heritage, has an obsession with over-commercialising all of their existing sports and clearly dont like getting involved with anything they haven''t invented or can take credit for. for £128 million I suppose

I think he''s a twat for doing this; at 31 there is no reason why he can''t compete in a decent leaugue. Love of the lifestyle more than love of the  game. If he had real ambition he''d be trying to win real trophies and real medals before his career really is over than doing some gay ambasseder role for football. Teaching American Kids. For God sake its the British kids who need the flippin attention, what with lack of decent English youth players coming through the ranks and increasing teenage obesity. Rant over with - and so to the last shreds of respect I had for the man with the golden balls

[Joe90 0]

FAIR PLAY to him! I know if I was given the chance to earn that sort of money, I wouldn''t even give it a second thought. He''s worked his trade well, despite the fact that some people don''t or never have rated him. He''s taken some opportunities and they''ve paid off (literally).

I personally, think he''s a ''ledge'' and fair play to him earning the dollar!! I''m sure I wouldn''t see any of you lot on this messag board getting a call from your boss to say an american company want to pay yo $xxxx,000 a day. Now are you going to commit to working for a better company here or are you going to grab the money... hmmmm...!! I know which way i''d go...