Yesterday was the deadline for a possible transfer deal for David Beckham and according to ESPN and the Los Angeles Times, it looks like David will be returning to the Glaxay as planned next month. Bruce Arena, head Galaxy coach, revealed that AC Milan failed to produce an "acceptable offer'' before Friday's deadline. He issued a statement saying that no transfer materialised and Beckham, will return when the loan expires: "Today's deadline imposed by Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber regarding a resolution of David Beckham's potential transfer to AC Milan has passed and we did not receive an acceptable offer for the player. As a result, David remains an LA Galaxy player and we look forward to having him back with the club starting March 9.''Chief executive of Galaxy owners AEG, Tim Leiweke, told the Los Angeles Times that Milan did not meet Friday's deadline and that no late offer would be considered. "He will be back here on March 9, and we don't want to entertain any more conversations now,'' Leiweke said. "It is a distraction to (Galaxy coach) Bruce Arena, the team and the fans, and we move on. That's the last we're going to talk about this.'' When he was asked what would happen should the Italian giants return with an improved offer now the deadline had passed, Leiweke was clear."They'll come back (with another offer), sure they will. But we owe it to our fans (not to consider it). We owe it to Bruce and we owe it to the rest of the team. We're a month away from our season."
Last week, the Galaxy rejected Milan's first bid for Beckham, saying David would return to LA as scheduled unless Milan came up with a higher offer. Leiweke insists Milan's offers have never come close to meeting AEG's and the league's asking price of more than £10m. "They've never been in the ballpark,'' he said. "What they've tried to do is use David and use us. We're not going to play that game any more. This has been extremely damaging and distracting for our team. I've been as courteous and as gracious as I possibly can out of respect for David, but now it's time to move on. We need to get David excited about the team we're building here and coming back.''
*I will keep you all posted on this.. it seems like it's not over just yet.
