Man Utd chief: Beckham wasn't pushed to Real Madrid

Manchester United chief Peter Kenyon says David Beckham was not pushed out of Old Trafford.

Kenyon insists United decided to sell Beckham to Real Madrid after it became apparent that the England skipper wasn't interested in signing a new contract extension.

When asked if Beckham would still be at United had he wanted to sign a new contract, Kenyon told the Telegraph, "Yes. But - and I don't want to draw this out - it did take us 18 months to secure his last contract, so there was probably a thought process that, at some stage, he'd want to play his trade elsewhere."

"After, perhaps, letting his contract run down so his value dropped?" "That was never going to happen. We would have been remiss if we allowed it," replied Kenyon.