Galaxy, Chivas USA set to open training camps

Newly re-signed midfielder David Beckham is expected to join 15 Galaxy teammates for physical and other testing Saturday before leading Major League Soccer's defending champions in their first workouts of  preseason training camp Monday at the Home Depot Center.

Beckham, who announced Thursday he had reached agreement on a two-year, $15-million deal with the Galaxy, will be attending the start of training camp for the first time in his six years with the team.

Coach Bruce Arena said the team will spend the first week of camp concentrating on fitness training before taking the field on Jan. 30.

Chivas USA, which shares the Home Depot Center with the Galaxy, will open its training camp Monday in Oxnard.

However both teams will be without several key players for most of the training period. Among those missing from the Galaxy camp are Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, A.J.De La Garza, Brian Perk and Michael Stephens, who are playing either intentionally with a U.S. national team or overseas on loan.

Among the players on the Chivas roster likely to miss the start of training are defender Heath Pearce, who is with the U.S. national team, Jorge Villafana, who has been playing with the U.S. U-23 team, as well as midfielders Miller Bolanos and Oswaldo Minda and defender David Junior Lopes, who are waiting for immigration documents. Bolandos and Minda are from Ecuador; Lopes is Brazilian.

Chivas USA is scheduled to scrimmage the Ventura Fusion on Jan. 27.

The MLS season opens in March.

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Photo: Galaxy midfielder David Beckham looks on during a news conference at Staples Center on Thursday announcing his re-signing with the team. Credit: Joe Klamar / AFP/Getty Images

It's official: David Beckham to return to Galaxy for two seasons

The Galaxy confirmed Wednesday afternoon that midfielder David Beckham has signed a new two-year contract with team, a deal reportedly worth $15 million.

"This was an important decision for me," Beckham said in a statement. The English star turned down an 18-month,  $18.7-million offer from the French club Paris-St. Germain to return to Major League Soccer. "I had many offers from clubs around the world. However I'm still passionate about playing in America and winning trophies with the Galaxy.

The agreement will be officially announced at a press conference in Los Angeles Thursday.

In deciding to stay with the Galaxy, which signed the former English team captain to a five-year deal in 2007, Beckham put his family's desire to remain in Southern California over the potential to earn millions more in Europe.

"I've seen first-hand how popular soccer is now in the States and I'm committed as ever to growing the game here," Beckham, who turns 37 in May. "My family and I are incredibly happy and settled in America and we look forward to spending many more years here."

Beckham's deal also includes a sabbatical that allows him to leave the Galaxy to play for Britain in this summer's Olympic Games in London, plus he and business manager Simon Fuller have an option to own a future MLS expansion team.

David Beckham will return to the Galaxy

David Beckham is coming back to the Galaxy.

The star midfielder, whose record five-year, $32.5-million contract with the Major League Soccer club expired Dec. 31, will announce Thursday that he has reached agreement on a new contract for the 2012 season, which begins in March. Details of the contract were not immediately available but it is expected to call for a summer sabbatical from MLS play, allowing Beckham to play for the British team in the London Olympics.

[FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this post misidentified the British Olympic soccer team as English.]

Beckham, who turns 37 in May, was offered an 18-month contract with French club Paris-St. Germain that would have paid him $1 million a month.

But Beckham, who has long said family concerns would play the biggest role in deciding where he would play, turned down that offer last month because his wife and four children enjoy living in Southern California.

Beckham had the most productive season of his short MLS career last year, playing 26 games and recording 15 assists, the second-highest total in the league.

That not only won him Comeback Player of the Year honors and a spot on the postseason Best XI, but it also helped the Galaxy to an MLS title, giving Beckham national titles in three countries.

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Photo: David Beckham, shown here in December, is returning to the Galaxy. Credit: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images.

David Beckham update: AEG's Leiweke says deal "not done yet"

And, just like that, David Beckham did not vanish into the French night.

Assumed to be all but gone -– bags virtually packed, if you believed some European media reports -- the 36-year-old global icon won’t be going to the French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain, according to team officials.

But there is not a deal in place for Beckham to stay with the MLS champion Galaxy. Not yet, at least.

"The stories were all over the front page of every newspaper in Europe that he was going to Paris; I told everyone I would not pay a lot of attention to that," said AEG’s Tim Leiweke, in a telephone interview with The Times. "And now that the stores are that he is going to the Galaxy, I would repeat the same advice: Premature.

"We have been talking with David about staying with the Galaxy for three months. And I said back in November, I was confident David would stay here and I still am.

"Does it look more likely that is heading in that direction? Yes. Are we done? No."

There are many other issues complicating the situation. PSG was and is not the only powerhouse interested in acquiring Beckham, said Leiweke, who is the chief executive officer and president of AEG.

"It’s not just Paris. He’s had other offers," Leiweke said. "And every one is greater and more expansive, bigger than anything we’re talking about. In addition to that, we have the added complication that David has the right to purchase a franchise in this league.

"There are a lot of issues we are going through. We are committed to David and he has always felt strongly about the Galaxy in L.A., and it does not surprise me that his family would prefer to stay in L.A. But we’re not done yet."

They have made substantial progress in negotiations.
 
"We’re down the road," Leiweke said. "I am confident we’ll get it done. We have to work to do but we’re not there yet. And as much as I didn’t get too low when they were planning the parade down the Champs-Elysees … now as much as the media is reporting that we’re done, I’ve been on the phone with his people all day. Trust me, we’re not done."

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Photo: David Beckham hasn't given a full thumbs-up to the Galaxy yet. Credit: Jason Redmond / AP.

David Beckham is staying in Los Angeles, PSG president says

David Beckham will be staying in Los Angeles, according to the president of the French soccer club that had been trying to lure the English superstar away from the city that has been his home since signing with the Galaxy five years ago.

“David Beckham is in Los Angeles,” Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser Al Khelaifi said at the Qatar Open tennis tournament Tuesday. “And he's going to stay there.”

Beckham is said to be working with the Galaxy on a new contract, possibly for two years, something that could happen as early as this week.

When his initial five-year contract with the Galaxy ended last year, Beckham was believed to be as good as gone from Los Angeles. PSG went after the 36-year-old midfielder hard, with French media reporting that the organization would have almost doubled the annual base salary of $6.5 million Beckham was earning with the Galaxy.

But Beckham, his wife, Victoria, and their four children are said to be quite happy living in Los Angeles. And Beckham is finally enjoying the kind of success he had hoped for when he signed with the Galaxy, which won the MLS Cup in November.

So after weeks of negotiations, Beckham will not be joining PSG, Al Khelaifi confirmed Tuesday.

“David Beckham is not coming,” Al Khelaifi said. “We feel a little disappointed. But both sides agreed it would be better that we not do the deal … maybe in the future.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: David Beckham. Credit: Ted Aljibe / AFP / Getty Images

Juninho leaving Galaxy, David Beckham appears ready to follow

Turns out David Beckham isn't the only Galaxy player leaving L.A. after the team's recent MLS Cup victory.

Juninho, who had a successful two-year run playing beside Beckham in the central midfield, has signed a three-year deal to return to Sao Paulo in his native Brazil.

An MLS All-Star last summer, the 22-year-old Juninho started 30 MLS games and scored four times -- with three of those goals winning games. 

Meanwhile, the Paris daily Le Parisien says it has confirmed what has long been rumored, namely that Beckham will sign with French club Paris Saint-Germain after his five-year  contract with the Galaxy officially expires on New Year's Eve.

The paper said the former English team captain, who turns 37 in May, has agreed in principle to an 18-month deal worth slightly more than $1 million a month. The contract also contains a potentially lucrative merchandising agreement.

However, a spokesman at Simon Fuller's company XIX Entertainment, which represents Beckham, says the reports are premature. "No agreement has been reached with any club yet; talks of a deal are premature.  David has yet to make a final decision on his future," the spokesman said.

David Beckham still mulling his future

Will he stay or will he go?

David Beckham isn't saying -- at least, not yet. But anyone reading the tea leaves would have to concede that it does not look good for the Galaxy.

Beckham's five-year, $32.5-million contract with the MLS team expires Dec. 31, and in the run-up to that Beckham has received inquiries from clubs all over the world. None, however, has been as persistent at the French team Paris Saint-Germain. Media reports in France this week quoted unidentified people affiliated with the club as saying that a deal with the former England captain was "95% complete."

The team's oil-rich Qatari owners reportedly are offering Beckham just more than $1 million a month for 18 months. The Galaxy can't match that cash, but in the past the team and Major League Soccer have dangled a possible ownership stake in a future MLS franchise, a deal that could be sweetened with an executive position with AEG, the company that owns the Galaxy.

Galaxy's David Beckham on returning to L.A. next season [Video]

It was Sunday evening and the Galaxy has just won their third Major League Soccer championship.

Amid celebration and proclamations of vindication by David Beckham at a news conference in a crowded and sweaty room at Home Depot Center, the topic of conversation kept returning to the same subject: What will become of the world's most popular soccer star?

Beckham's five-year contract with the Galaxy expires next month. He may return to the team, he may leave to play for another -- either in MLS or elsewhere -- or he may retire.

"I need to sit back and relax and enjoy this moment and then decide what I'm going to do," Beckham said.

Reporters tried in vain to get inside Beckham's head.

Are the reports hinting that you will leave the Galaxy wrong? Has your experience with MLS been what you had hoped it would be?

Beckham would not bend.

"I might talk in past tense every now and again, but it doesn't mean I'm not coming back," he said. "At the end of the day I need to decide what's best for me and what's best for the team and my family."

We all know what would be best for the team.

Since Beckham's arrival in Los Angeles in 2007, the Galaxy's annual revenue has tripled and the MLS has become a fixture on soccer's map.

Beckham started in 29 MLS games this season and finished second in the league in assists. On Sunday he played a major role in the team's winning goal. He headed the ball to Robbie Keane, who passed the ball to Landon Donovan, who guided the ball through the net in the Galaxy's 1-0 victory over Houston.

Regardless of what Beckham's future holds, he's certainly earned the respect of Los Angeles, his team and his coach, Bruce Arena.

"Whatever he decides to do, I support it 100%," Arena said. "If he decides to get on his horse and ride into the sunset and go elsewhere, retire -- I'm all for it. He's earned it."

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Galaxy's David Beckham ready for MLS Cup

The Major League Soccer Cup final on Sunday could be David Beckham's last game in a Galaxy uniform at the Home Depot Center and he doesn't plan on missing it.

So after training Saturday for the first time in three days, Beckham pronounced himself ready despite lingering issues with his back and hamstring.

"I'm feeling good. It was good to be back out there with the guys," said Beckham, who has assisted on goals in each of the Galaxy's three postseason wins. "We're ready as a team.

"My body feels great so it shouldn't be a problem, shouldn't be an issue. Obviously I've had issues with my back all season. But I was able to train today and came through it with no problem. So it's all good."

Beckham, who has been receiving treatment from the team's medical staff, seemed to move easily through a light hourlong practice on the Home Depot field Saturday.

"He's doing fine. He has no problem," Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said of Beckham. "We're looking forward to playing."

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Photo: David Beckham jogs during a training session with the Galaxy on Saturday at Home Depot Center. Credit: Stephen Dunn / Getty Images

You can bank on sick David Beckham playing in MLS Cup final

When midfielder David Beckham was a no-show at the Galaxy's training session Thursday, it piqued the interest of more than one journalist. And Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena had a ready -- if typically acerbic -- answer for the question.

"He’s downtown today," Arena said "I think he’s protesting the banking system in this country."

That would be unlikely given that Beckham, the highest-paid player in MLS, was estimated by Forbes to have made $40 million last year, making him the wealthiest soccer player in the world.

Actually, Arena finally confessed, Beckham was given the morning off with a cold although members of the team said he is resting a hamstring problem.

Asked by a British journalist whether Beckham would play in Sunday's MLS Cup final, Arena said: "I’d even let you answer that question. He played last year in the playoffs with an Achilles that was freshly operated on. David will be on the field Sunday."

The banks, after all, will be closed then.

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MLS Cup could be David Beckham's last game with Galaxy [Video]

When David Beckham decided to cross over the pond and join the Galaxy in 2007, he dreamed of invigorating Major League Soccer with the passion and zest that the sport sees in Europe.

Within three days, 7,000 fans bought season-ticket packages, according to the Galaxy's president of business operations, Tom Payne.

Said Payne: "It allowed us to have the confidence to consider ourselves and our sport major league in every way."

Yet the Beckham experiment, as many refer to his time with MLS, may soon come to an end.

Beckham's five-year contract expires after this season and he has yet to announce whether he will remain with the Galaxy. In fact, Sunday's MLS Cup could be his final game with the league.

It's a sad prospect for his teammates.

"There's no question that we'd like him to stay and we want him part of the team for years to come. But in the end, it's his decision," said Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter.