Milan to give Beckham a chance to keep his England career going

I am absolutely fascinated by the news that David Beckham is going to join AC Milan on loan from January next year, during the close season of the MLS.

This is fascinating news both from the point of view of Beckham himself and of AC Milan.

Ultra-competitive

Speaking on Wednesday morning, Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani told the BBC, “Beckham has chosen Milan. He’ll stay here in Milan on loan for a few months. Our squad is ultra-competitive and it will remain this way but Beckham is something different and intriguing.”

Although Beckham has been involved in the recent England squad for the World Cup qualifiers and made substitute appearances in both games, it is now some sixteen months since he started a competitive international. With the MLS season coming to a close now and not starting again until April, England manager Fabio Capello has made it clear he wasn’t going to be considered for the Spain friendly next February.

Excited

Becks is excited by the new regime with England and he has his eye firstly on gaining the two caps he needs to overtake Bobby Moore as England’s most capped outfield player of all time, and secondly, the outside chance of being involved in the World Cup finals of 2010 when he will be thirty-five years old. By playing solely in the MLS and taking five months off now, neither of those things are likely to happen.

With Capello making it clear he will only select players who are active and in form, Beckham knows that he must prove both, and prove them at the top level. He will certainly get the opportunity to do so at the San Siro where he will be eligible for both Serie A and the Uefa Cup.

Exhibition matches

In the meantime, he is expected to play for LA Galaxy in a series of exhibition matches in Australia and New Zealand in December. Of course, up until now, LA Galaxy have always stated that Beckham would not be permitted to go on loan to a European club. I’m not sure what has changed.

So it is clear what benefit David Beckham will get from joining Milan and if he can force his way into the starting eleven and play league and European football for them, there is no reason why he can’t keep his international ambitions alive.

Asset on the field of play?

It might not be quite so clear what Milan will get in terms of football. Obviously they will get all the commercial benefits that having David Beckham at the club will inevitably bring, but will he be a huge asset on the field of play?

After two early season defeats Milan have found the type of form we associate with that great club. Victory over their city rivals, Inter, was one of seven games without defeat.

‘Old guard’

Beckham will join up with a squad, which includes Brazilians Ronaldinho and Kaka, as well as Italian internationals Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso. With those four players aged twenty-eight, twenty-six, twenty-nine and thirty respectively, they are among the younger members of the ‘old guard’ of greats. Some feel that all four of those players are past their best at the very highest level.

Add to that the fact that on the pitch in their 3-0 win over struggling Sampdoria at the weekend were, Abbiati (31), Maldini (40), Ambrosini (31), Jankulovski (31), Seedorf (32), Emerson (32) and Inzaghi (35), you do get a picture of a talented but ageing team. Beckham should fit right in, but will hardly produce the dynamism that Milan might need.

Too old

It is a commonly held belief that Milan are too old as a team to achieve great success. Only results will show whether that is true or not. Coach Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear that he would love to have David Beckham at the club.

“For me, it will be a pleasure. Beckham is a serious athlete, a great professional. If he’ll be available for us, we’ll be very happy.”

Likeable

Milan are expected to officially confirm the loan move on Friday. It will be fascinating to see if Beckham can produce the goods at the highest level. The Milan fans will love him, just as the Manchester United and Real Madrid fans did, because he is a hugely likeable bloke, he brings a great deal of money to the club and he works his socks off on the pitch. Fans love to see players giving their all and Becks never gives anything less.

Whether he will be able to produce the level of performance that the Milan faithful will be expecting remains to be seen. I do believe however, that he will surprise his critics and show that he has still got what it takes.