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The 'rift' that led to Beckham bid
LONDON, England -- David Beckham has become one of the world's biggest, and most marketable, stars of soccer. But Beckham's climb to the top of the game has corresponded with a widening divide between him and his long time manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. The 28-year-old midfielder -- who has played for football team Manchester United his whole professional life and is also the captain of England's national team -- is said to be "disappointed and surprised" by Tuesday's revelations that the club had accepted a bid for Beckham from Spanish club Barcelona. (Full story) But the schism between manager and player -- which reportedly came to a head after the star went to the MTV awards in the United States this month -- has been a long time coming. The schoolboy from London -- who won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills competition -- and his Scottish manager have achieved unparalleled success in the past 17 years together, including winning eight Premier League titles. In 1986, Beckham aged 11, first played at Old Trafford football stadium in the same year that Ferguson began his reign as manager. "Despite what people say about me and Sir Alex Ferguson, he's been a father figure for me," Beckham was quoted by Reuters as saying earlier this week. "Without him I wouldn't be the player or the person that I am today, because he had the confidence when I was 18 years old to put me in the first team," he said. Beckham signed his first contract with the UK's biggest football team on his 14th birthday and went on to play in the 1992 UK Football Association Youth Cup-winning team at the age of 16. In 1993, he joined the regular squad as a trainee under Ferguson and by 1995 was a mainstay in the club as it rose rapidly to become one of the greatest teams in the world. Through the highs and lows of Beckham's sporting career, Ferguson up till now has supported his young prodigy. Even after England's legendary 1998 World Cup defeat against Argentina -- when Beckham famously received a red card for kicking an opposition player -- his manager stood beside as he was vilified by the press. He has always pledged his loyalty to the club: "I'm a Man United player," he told the Los Angeles Times earlier this week while continuing his visit in the U.S. "As long as they want me, then I'll stay." But there has been speculation in the UK media that Ferguson no longer wants Beckham on the team and that relations between the two have become increasingly terse. Beckham -- a massive marketing pull in most of the world -- has become an iconic figure in England for his glitz and glamour off the pitch as much as for his football skills. Ferguson -- a former shipbuilding apprentice from Glasgow -- has seen the move into the celebrity world as unwelcome distractions for his player. In 1999, the Scot fined Beckham for attending a showbiz party the night before an important Champions League game.
The next year, Beckham was dropped from the regular squad for missing training -- which he later said was due to the illness of his son, Brooklyn. Rumors in the press began to circulate that a rift was developing between the two and bookies reportedly took short odds that the footballer would soon move on. But Beckham continued playing for Manchester and was named the England captain in 2001. He signed a four-year contact with United in 2002 making him the highest-paid soccer player in the world with annual earnings of 15 million euros ($17 million), according to a survey by French Football Magazine. He earns more from endorsed products -- such as Pepsi Cola, Vodafone, Marks and Spencers, and Adidas -- than from playing football. Seen by analysts as the most marketable player in the game, Beckham has angered Ferguson with the constant media attention surrounding his hair, his clothes and his pop star wife Victoria Adams, a former Spice Girl . The divide between the two came to ahead last season when Ferguson famously struck his player in the face with a flying boot after the team had been defeated in the FA Cup by rival Arsenal football club. Beckham, who paraded his stitches to the world media, was kept on the bench for subsequent games in what was seen by the media as a reminder that Ferguson was still in charge. The outspoken Scot -- who has remained quiet this week amid the Barcelona negotiations -- may not appreciate his player but the Spanish team already sees Beckham as a valuable commodity on and off the pitch. "He is especially good for marketing purposes," Barcelona coach, Raddy Antic told BBC Radio Five Live Wednesday. "The newspapers are talking about it. It has been very good for Laporta," he said referring to Barcelona football clubs' presidential candidate, Joan Laporta. Barcelona's offer -- estimated at £30 million ($50 million) -- is subject to conditions, including personal terms and Joan Laporta being elected president, according to the Manchester team's Web site.
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