Showing Real interest

Real Madrid are ready to start negotiating in earnest for David Beckham, according to the Spanish sports daily Marca on Friday.

"Beckham is the number one target for the club for the next season, although they are not prepared to mortgage the economic future of the club and (Real Madrid president) Florentino Perez has put a limit on what he is prepared to pay," said Spain's biggest selling newspaper.

What gives the report more credibility than mere speculation is that Marca have been consistently ahead of its rivals in predicting Real's major moves in the transfer market in recent years.

Marca are known to have good contacts within the club and were first with the news of Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo arrivals over the last two summers.

No Real Madrid official was available on Friday to confirm the report but Marca added, "Real Madrid will offer the English midfielder a contract similar to that of Raul, Zidane, Luis Figo and Ronaldo. Valdano (Real Madrid director general Jorge Valdano) will put on the table a contract for five years, worth around six million euros per year."

Marca said that Real Madrid will sit down separately with Manchester United and Beckham shortly after the Spanish season finishes on June 22.

According to Marca, Real's opening offer to United would be 20 million euros and players, which will include Cameroon utility man Geremi Ndjitap who has impressed during his year on-loan at Premiership side Middlesborough.

By contrast, Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta is reported to be ready to offer Beckham 10 million euros to bring him to the Nou Camp although many pundits though are wondering from where Laporta's money will come.

The Catalan club are heavily in debt, despite a lucrative television contract with Spanish satellite and cable TV company Via Digital, and will not be playing in the Champions League next season.

But Laporta has insisted all week that he will persuade Beckham to join his side.

The 40 year-old lawyer has made Beckham's capture the central promise of his electoral campaign, which comes to a head with a vote of Barcelona's 103,000 members on Sunday.

Valdano meanwhile added fuel to the fire on Thursday by stating that Beckham, if he did move to the Bernabeu, would play in the central midfield role he covets and not out on the right, where he is usually found at United.

"David Beckham is a footballer in exile. He should be playing in the centre.

"When played correctly football is like art, a wonderful painting or beautiful piece of music. Beckham is a football artist. He is the best striker of the ball anywhere," said Valdano.

Valdano finally answered one of the main questions concerning Beckham's potential move to Real Madrid: where was he going to play with Luis Figo unlikely to cede his place down the right flank?

The centre of the pitch is one of the few areas where Real Madrid have an opening, with someone required to accompany French international Claude Makelele after Flavio Conceicao and Esteban Cambiasso both fell short of expectations during the course of the season.

"If Beckham is coming to play in Spain, I think he would choose Real Madrid over Barcelona," Real's current English midfielder Steve McManaman told Spanish radio station TeleMadridradio on Friday.

However, McManaman may not be on hand to welcome his compatriot at the gates of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, if Beckham does come to the Spanish capital as the former Liverpool man is one of the players most likely to be leaving Real Madrid this summer.