Valdano Outlines Beckham's Commercial Appeal To Real

As Real Madrid appeared to nose ahead in the race with Barcelona to lure England captain David Beckham, to La Liga, Real's sporting director Jorge Valdano said he believes Becks can plug a gap in the club's commercial profile.

Real pride themselves on pursuing a policy of buying the world's top players. They have already assembled a side that boasts Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Raul, Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane. These stars help broaden the club's appeal to the Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arab and Latin American markets.

But Valdano admits that Real lack a big-name player to capture the hearts and imaginations of English-speaking and Northern European supporters. And he acknowledged that Beckham – an international icon – could redress the balance.

Real's bitter rivals Barcelona have already tabled a bid for the midfielder apparently no longer wanted by Manchester United, but Roberto Carlos believes that Beckham will be at the Bernabeu next season. It is a prospect Valdano does not dismiss.

"There are icons in football and Beckham is one of them," he said.

"We have a lot of 'south' in our side; we have Ronaldo, Zidane with his Arab blood, Argentinians, Spanish and in general a lot of representation from the Latin world.

"Beckham is the north. I think that at the moment, he is a complement to the other ingredients that would be especially attractive - especially to the media," he said.

Of course, Beckham's phenomenal popularity in the Far East must be another major factor in the commercial calculations of both Real and Barca.

And Valdano, who has previously denied that Real will sign Beckham, admitted he may have been lying.

"You have to avoid the truth on many occasions in this job. To do the job well implies hiding information sometimes," he added.

"I don't lie much, but on many occasions I say nothing."

The Daily Mirror claims that Beckham's advisers held detailed discussions with Real before he went on holiday to the United States, a claim which if true makes a bit of a nonsense of some of the things his advisers said in the wake of the United-Laporta/Barca 'deal'.

Certainly the bookmakers regard Real as strong favourites to land the star, though Barcelona are by no means out of the running. AC Milan appear to be, though – by their own choice. They do not see anyone, including Beckham, coming in to replace the players who recently took the club back to the summit of European football as Champions League winners.