England needs Beckham at Milan

On loan to AC Milan, David Beckham is hoping to engineer a permanent move from the Los Angeles Galaxy to the Italian super-club. AP The Limey's Mailbag Keep the banter flowing to The Limey. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

Are we about to witness the fourth coming of David Beckham? Last week, the iconic midfielder said he wanted to extend his stay at AC Milan, possibly making it a permanent move. If he is able to stay, it could again, at age 33, mark another renaissance of a career often previously written off.

If he plays in Wednesday's friendly at Spain, Beckham will equal Bobby Moore's record 108 England caps. A permanent move to Milan will offer Becks the chance to finish on a high for club and country in 2010, a World Cup year.

Not bad for a man who was roundly blamed for England's World Cup exit in 1998, was dropped from Real Madrid's team and told he'd never play for it again in '03. A man who watched in tears as England exited what he thought was his last World Cup in '06.

Beckham's reasons for wanting to stay in Italy are sound. Milan offers him the opportunity again to play soccer at the highest level in an environment where he feels comfortable, all of which will support his attempt to earn a spot on England's national team for the 2010 World Cup. It's a virtuous combination evidenced by his fine form, including two goals in five games.

"To be given the chance again to play at this level at my age is pretty incredible, and I've enjoyed it so much I would like to continue it," he said last week. "I think people have seen the way I've been since playing at this level again. I want to play for this club -- it is one of the biggest in the world."

While Beckham was ostensibly enjoying Los Angeles and the Galaxy, it was a sub-optimal club for a player of his caliber. Beckham joined the Galaxy sincere in his belief that doing so would help Major League Soccer expand and, indeed, it was a huge coup for MLS to sign the world's most marketable player. But from the perspective of his own soccer career, L.A. was the wrong destination.

The Beckham that signed for the Galaxy in January of '07 was a fringe player at Madrid, possibly doubting his ability to hold down a regular slot at a top European side. With thoughts turning to his post-soccer career, the lure of Tinseltown was strong, both for him and his wife.

But Beckham then played arguably the best soccer of his Madrid career in the five months between announcing his contract with the Galaxy in January and leaving Spain for them that summer. When Beckham left Madrid, he had just spearheaded the club to the title, and Real suddenly became desperate to keep him.

Perhaps when he moved to MLS, Beckham thought that winning La Liga at age 32 was a fitting end to his days at world-class clubs. But if so, he underestimated his own athleticism and staying power -- perhaps he was simply trapped by a contract and his wife's ambitions.

His move to Milan seemingly has rejuvenated his love of the game. Has he finally freed himself from the distractions of his wife's wants, his celebrity status and honorable notions of helping develop the game? Soccer's "a game that will grow [in the States], but it will take quite a few years," he now realizes. Years that the 33-year-old doesn't have to play with.

Beckham has settled quickly at Milan. "I have been made incredibly welcome, made to feel at home and that makes me want to stay," he said. Beckham's bum has even been deemed a lucky charm, as evidenced by Clarence Seedorf and Andrea Pirlo both stroking its left cheek in a 4-1 win over Bologna last month. "Italy is a superstitious country, people touch things for luck," an AC Milan spokesperson told U.K. newspaper The Sun.

The importance of Beckham feeling at home cannot be understated given that since falling foul of Sir Alex Ferguson in his latter years at Manchester United, Beckham has lacked the stability that underpinned the best years of his club career -- those seasons surrounding Manchester United's '98-99 treble-winning season.