“I don’t want to go out to America at 34 years old and people be turning around saying, ‘Well he’s only going there to get the money’.”
David Beckham was insistent. This was not a cash grab, not a PR stunt, not an attempt to grow a brand or lean into the cult of celebrity.
It was, he claimed, about the football. Beckham wanted to contribute to the development of football in the USA, to be a part of tangible growth and progression.
And so in the summer of 2007, he left Real Madrid, one of the most successful clubs in the history of the game, for LA Galaxy. There were, inevitably, some raised eyebrows, but the sentiment appeared genuine.
It helped, of course, that Beckham would become the highest-paid sportsman in the US, earning $250million a year.
The Los Angeles weather and glamour were attractive, too, for a footballer who had transcended sport to appeal to the mainstream, a Kardashian-esque figure.
It was easy, then, to cynically dismiss the move as nothing more than a conscious effort to better a post-football career of celebrity.
“Beckham’s decision marks the culmination of a strategy aimed at preserving his brand long after the footballer has faded,” wrote the Guardian.
“For all his considerable skills, his celebrity has long outstripped his talent, and the move signals the end of his career as a footballer of significance.
“Six months after resigning the England captaincy with a tear in his eye, the most famous footballer of his generation is walking away from the highest level of the game aged just 31.”
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READ: Real Madrid’s English era: How David Beckham’s grit earned glory at last
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That was a view shared by many, particularly those looking on from England. Moving to America was seen as almost downing tools, a financially prudent but minimally challenging pre-retirement sojourn.
For proponents of Major League Soccer and its potential, though, this was significant.
“David is truly the only…
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