Surely this was never really going to happen? Admittedly, this potential move did not have much substance behind it, but in the spring of 2004, rumours were rife that the Golden Boy of English football would be swapping Spain for London. Following a turbulent debut season at Real following his £25 million move from Manchester United, he had to deal with accusations levied regarding his personal life, and struggled to adapt to his new surroundings. With Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon having enjoyed a wonderful relationship with the England captain during their time together at Old Trafford, the English media expected Abramovich's bottomless pit to make Beckham their acquisition of the summer. The powers-that-be at the Bernabeu were adamant that Beckham would not be going anywhere, however, and moved quickly to dampen any hopes the Chelsea board might have had of landing the sport's most marketable footballer. According to Beckham's personal assistant Terry Byrne, Beckham would be rejecting any advances.
''Unless Real want to sell him, he's staying. The truth is, we don't know where the stories about him leaving are coming from, but it's not us. Real told me they don't want to sell him. The situation remains the same because we always said we would review the situation after two years and he hasn't even finished his first season. Obviously we have talked about what would happen if he came home but there only a few clubs he could go to. The bottom line is that David loves playing for Real Madrid.'' - Terry Byrne, May 2004.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
