David Beckham may one day regret his decision to leave Real Madrid and move to the USA so soon, Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed.
In his autobiography, the former Manchester United boss lifted the lid on why Beckham was sold to the Spanish giants in 2003 and said the move to LA Galaxy in 2007 was for non-footballing reasons.
Ferguson, who spent 26 years in charge at Old Trafford, claimed Beckham had to be sold after his marriage to Victoria, a member of girl band the Spice Girls. He said the player was too distracted by celebrity life and thought he had become bigger than the club and manager.
“The minute a Manchester United player thought he was bigger than the manager, he had to go,” he wrote. “David thought he was bigger than Alex Ferguson. That was the death knell for him.”
The Scotsman also gave his views on Beckham’s move from Real Madrid to LA Galaxy shortly after he won La Liga with Los Blancos.
“If he had asked my advice when he left Real Madrid for LA Galaxy, I would have told him exactly what I thought. How can you leave Real Madrid for LA Galaxy? He reinvented himself a couple of times to go to AC Milan then PSG. That’s because of his natural stamina. At the end I think he did miss the big-time football. Maybe in a couple of years he’ll look back and think that,” Ferguson wrote.
Despite the break down in their relationship a decade ago, Ferguson said he always had huge respect for Beckham, and added he did not feel his autobiography was overly critical of him.
“How can I argue with how he’s turned out as a human being? I thought he was a marvellous guy. When he joined us at 12 years of age, he had this fantastic ambition to be a footballer,” he stated.
