David Beckham: a last hurrah for the one-man brand

Last night, David Beckham lived out the final minutes of his American dream, making his last appearance for LA Galaxy. He arrived in LA in 2007, to much fanfare, about how much he was earning and how he would transform the game in the US.
The Major League, as it is styled, has steadily expanded, from 13 clubs to 19, and several years of growth means it is now more popular in the States than it has ever been. Beckham's old boss, Alex Ferguson, said: "Football in America is improving and David has definitely given it a profile."
That is not to say that Beckham, or anyone in Camp Beckham, views the end of his west coast adventure at the ripe old age (for a footballer) of 37 as the end of his footballing road. "Retirement hasn't even come into my head yet, to be honest," said Beckham on Thursday night. "I feel great, physically good. I do feel I can play on. I'm happy I've played in America for nearly six years but now is the time to go and do something different."
Knowing when the time is right to quit is not easy, as boxer Ricky Hatton can testify. Eight months after he retired, Beckham's former team-mate Paul Scholes decided he had retired prematurely and knocked on Ferguson's door, asking to return. Beckham has expressed an interest in one day returning to the States, as an owner rather than a player - "I'm in talks, I can't say who with, but it's an exciting project. I'm going to enjoy being an owner" - but for now, he sees himself as player who needs one final challenge before he hangs up his playing boots, Kazinform has learnt from the Guardian.
Although Beckham's footballing destination is unknown, his wife, Victoria, has already been house hunting in London, a useful family base if he decides to play in continental Europe. "I think we'll spend a little more time in England," Beckham said last week, "because it's good for our kids to see their grandparents."
He's unlikely to join one of the capital's clubs, however, even though sources close to him say that three English teams have expressed an interest in him. Others suggest there are clubs on the continent, Australia, China and Brazil who would still love to welcome Beckham. "To have Carlo Ancelotti at Paris St-Germain, Harry Redknapp [manager at QPR] and Sam Allardyce [manager of West Ham] coming out saying they would like me to play for them means a lot to me," says Beckham.
But not, perhaps, enough to persuade him to sign - at least for the Premier League clubs. He has always maintained that United would be his only English club and it's hard to see him breaking that promise for a team at the wrong end of the table. Whether he has the legs to be more than a bit part player in the Premier League is another question. Scholes proved he was still the finest passer of his generation when he reversed his retirement decision last season, and evergreen Ryan Giggs, two years older than Beckham, is still playing, thanks in part to his yoga, but both struggle with the speed of big games.
"I don't know if he can cope now with the pace of the Premier League," said Chelsea's interim coach, Rafa Benitez, of Beckham, which is probably a fair assessment.
Monaco are another French side who have expressed an interest, while if he really wanted a greater challenge in a new territory, the Chinese or Australian leagues might beckon.
It's all a long journey from the day a young, hair-gelled lad with a squeaky London accent signed for United on his 14th birthday. When it comes to fame and footballers, George Best had established the template. Ryan Giggs, exploding on to the scene as a brilliant winger, looked like he might be the natural successor to Best. In fact, in terms of football honours, he has far surpassed Best. But in terms of embracing fame, it was Beckham who assumed the Best throne - and quite literally mounted one, when it came to his wedding to Victoria, a golden one designed by his new wife.
When I met Beckham at the launch of Manchester United's Red Cafe in the mid-90s, he was already a fast rising star, but unassuming and friendly. He strolled across, stretched out his hand and said: "Hi, I'm David." I was surprised by his deep knowledge and genuine affection for Manchester. Like Best before him, he had embraced his adopted city with some gusto, although, unlike Best, he spent more in the boutiques than in the bars.
Within a year, his profile had rocketed, fuelled by his relationship and engagement to Victoria Adams, aka Posh Spice. Soon afterwards, I spotted Manchester's then only paparrazo in Deansgate being harangued by a young man in a baseball cap. It was Beckham. As he left, I asked the photographer what had happened. Apparently, Beckham had said: "Stop following me, you're haunting me", to which the photographer had replied: "Listen, mate, you're the most famous footballer in Manchester, I just want a picture of you. You're haunting me."
Beckham was a product of the famous Manchester United youth team of 1992, the nucleus of which - Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers - was Mancunian. They went on to achieve the highest honours together, united as a team, but off the pitch they led increasingly disparate lives. Scholes's approach to life was summed up by a T-shirt dedicated to him, which read: "Get up, go to work, play the game, get showered, go home. No fuss." Meanwhile, David and Victoria - or Posh and Becks, as they were now known - graced a thousand magazine covers; brand Beckham became unstoppable and David one of the world's biggest stars.
So much so that he played a pivotal role in securing this summer's Olympics and made several cameo appearances in the torch relay and opening ceremony. However, in a clear sign that his footballing skills were no longer at the level of his fame and influence, he did not win a place in Team GB's football squad.
Last summer, he became the first man to grace the cover of Elle magazine. Its editor-in-chief, Lorraine Candy, recalls: "He was the first because no one else has the appeal he has. We tweeted pics of the cover shoot and from that moment I was being stopped in the street and playground by women desperate to know 'What's he like?' It was extraordinary. When we launched a teaser of the cover on the website, it crashed because if couldn't cope with the traffic."
Unquestionably, there are some for whom Beckham the brand obscures his virtues as a footballer and for whom his pop star image represents everything that is rotten and spoilt in a beautiful game turned ugly. It's a view that reached far and wide. Bret Easton Ellis tweeted that if he were to write a sequel to American Psycho, one of antihero Patrick Bateman's first murder victims would be Beckham.
But what is also often overlooked is that behind it all he's still a man obsessed with a ball. Still one can recognise the boy who left the family home as a teenager to pursue the dream of playing for his childhood team. Throughout his career, this forceful nature has come through, whether breaking into the first team at United, being part of that team that won the treble, simply because they refused ever to accept they were beaten, or changing the then Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello's low opinion of him.
The fact that he's a footballer might sometimes seem to border on an inconvenience to those behind brand Beckham. But there's little doubt that this is what matters to him most, explaining why he's determined to find a place where he can embrace one final challenge. And even Beckham, far removed from the routine player, is perhaps motivated by the fear that hangs over most footballers in the twilight of their careers. The fear that when the final whistle of his final game blows, he'll face the question that faces all his colleagues: if I'm not a footballer, who am I?