Galaxy's Arena slams Milan over Beckham comments

By Zac Lee Rigg, Special to SI.com, Goal.com

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Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena reacted to claims from AC Milan on Monday that it would like to sign David Beckham to a permanent deal, saying that he is "not sure if it's appropriate" to make such claims without first contacting the Galaxy.

Comments out of Milan suggest that the club is interested in signing the on-loan Beckham permanently. Most recently, club lawyer Leandro Cantamessa has followed president Silvio Berlusconi and coach Carlo Ancelotti in expressing a desire to sign the right sided midfielder.

Such suggestions don't sit well with Beckham's current employers. Heach coach and general manager Arena fielded questions about his star Monday, and was not amused by the comments.

"I'll say what we've said all along: We have two players out on loan agreements. Those loans end March 8," he said emphatically.

The other player out on loan is last season's MLS top goalscorer Landon Donovan, who is with Bayern Munich in Germany.

"We've never stated anything otherwise, and I'm not sure if it's appropriate for club officials at the biggest clubs in the world to be making comments without having contact with us," he continued. "If I had a player on a loan agreement, I wouldn't be talking about acquiring that player unless I talked to the club. "

Arena, formerly the head coach of the U.S. national team and winner of two consecutive MLS Cups with D.C. United, went on to describe the Galaxy's role in the loan. He emphasized their ethical behavior as if to underline Milan's lack of tact.

"We've held ourselves to a high standard," he said. "We formally agreed to the loan, we set conditions, and we've lived up to our part of the loan agreements. We can't be responsible for comments from managers, club presidents, club lawyers, players. What we know is that we did things properly, ethically, and we're going to hold up to our end of the loan agreement."

Whatever his opinion of Milan's public claims, Arena was impressed with how Beckham has progressed with the Italian giants. The England international has struggled with injuries over the course of his two season with the Galaxy and has yet to help them reach the playoffs. Arena was blunt about Beckham playing better in Italy than for the Galaxy at the end of last season.

"I'm happy to see he's moving forward," he said. "He struggled with injuries over the last three months of our season and it's good to see him getting back in form. His fitness is improving and certainly his touch on the ball has gotten better. I think he's fully comfortable now and that's a plus. He's definitely improved his form."

Last weekend Beckham scored his first goal for Milan, a tight-angled blast in a 4-1 win over Bologna. He is expected to take part in the match against Genoa on Wednesday.