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Glazer and Beckham may cooperate in LA Galaxy
USA - 04 December, 2006
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By protecting the services of the franchise's most admired player in recent times, Malcolm Glazer, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner, is constructing his English Manchester United football empire on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
It is rumoured that international celebrity and sports star David Beckham will be part of Glazer's move to buy into the Los Angeles Galaxy stateside football franchise, a year and a half after the USD 1.4 billion buyout of Manchester United.
Red Issue, a British magazine for Manchester United fans, reported Glazer's family discussed a joint venture with Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, which is the current Galaxy owner, about linking the Major League Soccer franchise with Manchester United. The move would likely cause a name change for Galaxy.
Beckham, a former Manchester United midfielder who has founded a football school in Los Angeles, is the solution to making the deal work according to Red Issue.
It also reported that the Glazers think Beckham would ensure the success of the move and allow him to take his football career in a new direction. Beckham's lucrative contract with Spanish Real Madrid expires at the end of this year.
The Glazers are not commenting about the proposal and AEG, which owns four of the 12 MLS franchises playing this season, also refused comment. It is thought AEG is interested in selling part or all of the Galaxy.
AEG, owned by MLS co-founder and billionaire Philip Anschutz, sold D.C. United last year to a group of Washington investors for a record USD 20 million.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber acknowledged that the league's new designated player rule will allow franchises to sign more elite talent from football clubs around the world.
"Our fans have stated they would like to see more world-class stars in MLS," Garber said in published reports.
Football fans in the Tampa Bay area say they believe the Glazers' attempt to create a solid connection between U.S. and U.K. football should increase the game's domestic popularity.
"It's a very, very positive move for soccer in this country," said Farrukh Quraishi, former Tampa Bay Rowdies star and original general manager of the MLS Tampa Bay Mutiny, who now serves as a public relations executive with Brock Communications Inc. in Tampa. Beckham, at age 31, could still play American football if the deal is accomplished, he said.
It is rumoured that international celebrity and sports star David Beckham will be part of Glazer's move to buy into the Los Angeles Galaxy stateside football franchise, a year and a half after the USD 1.4 billion buyout of Manchester United.
Red Issue, a British magazine for Manchester United fans, reported Glazer's family discussed a joint venture with Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, which is the current Galaxy owner, about linking the Major League Soccer franchise with Manchester United. The move would likely cause a name change for Galaxy.
Beckham, a former Manchester United midfielder who has founded a football school in Los Angeles, is the solution to making the deal work according to Red Issue.
It also reported that the Glazers think Beckham would ensure the success of the move and allow him to take his football career in a new direction. Beckham's lucrative contract with Spanish Real Madrid expires at the end of this year.
The Glazers are not commenting about the proposal and AEG, which owns four of the 12 MLS franchises playing this season, also refused comment. It is thought AEG is interested in selling part or all of the Galaxy.
AEG, owned by MLS co-founder and billionaire Philip Anschutz, sold D.C. United last year to a group of Washington investors for a record USD 20 million.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber acknowledged that the league's new designated player rule will allow franchises to sign more elite talent from football clubs around the world.
"Our fans have stated they would like to see more world-class stars in MLS," Garber said in published reports.
Football fans in the Tampa Bay area say they believe the Glazers' attempt to create a solid connection between U.S. and U.K. football should increase the game's domestic popularity.
"It's a very, very positive move for soccer in this country," said Farrukh Quraishi, former Tampa Bay Rowdies star and original general manager of the MLS Tampa Bay Mutiny, who now serves as a public relations executive with Brock Communications Inc. in Tampa. Beckham, at age 31, could still play American football if the deal is accomplished, he said.
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