Soccer superstar David Beckham, who may very well be the owner of the most famous face on the planet these days, announced on Jan. 31 that he’ll be resuming his career in France with Paris Saint Germain (PSG).
The former England, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Milan, and Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder has signed a short five-month deal and said he will be donating his wages to children’s charities.
Beckham left the Galaxy at the conclusion of the 2012 season after leading the club to its second consecutive MLS Cup. He had numerous offers from soccer teams all over the world, but the 37-year-old settled on PSG, which plays in the French Ligue 1, the country’s top tier of soccer.
So far, his salary hasn’t been announced and neither has the charity or charities that will be receiving his generous gift, but it’s believed to be based in Paris. Beckham has been quite successful at all of his clubs and has won championship medals with the Galaxy, Real Madrid, and Manchester United.
He has always stated that he wouldn’t feel comfortable playing in the English Premier League with any other team than United and that’s perhaps why he didn’t resume his career in England. He’s spent the past six years with Los Angeles and the competition in France should certainly be a bit stronger.
Beckham said he couldn’t believe how many offers he received after announcing he’d be leaving the Galaxy, especially at his age. He claimed that he had more offers from teams this year than he’s had previously in his career.
He said he was honored that so many clubs had an interest in him and said he decided to join PSG because he understands what the team is trying to achieve by bringing in world-class players and Paris is an exciting city.
While Beckham’s contract with PSG will expire in June, he stated that he’d like to keep on playing after that, but again he’s not sure where he will end up.
Of course, while Beckham is still seen as a top-class player by most supporters, there are some clubs that would like to sign him just to cash in on his enormous popularity. There’s no doubt that his presence at any club will result in thousands of shirts sold and a decent profit will be made.
Beckham said he’d like to stay with PSG if possible since he feels the club will soon be one of the most powerful in Europe. He almost joined the team last year when it was looking to sign big-name players, but he stayed with Los Angeles.
That didn’t stop PSG from signing some other top layers though, such as Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan along with Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli and young Brazilian Lucas.
Staying in los Angeles for one more season was important to Beckham though as he said he still wanted to achieve something there and didn’t feel it was the right time to leave. But after winning the MLS championship for a second straight year in 2012 he then felt his job there was done.
Since leaving the Galaxy, Beckham has been training with Arsenal of the English Premier League after moving back to London.
