NEWS:DAVID BECKHAM will sign a new two-year deal with LA Galaxy "sooner rather than later", according to a friend of the 36-year-old.

The fresh contract with LA Galaxy is unlikely to be for less than his previous salary of around €6 million a year.

Beckham had been thought close to joining Paris St-Germain but after the French club were informed last week that a deal had become remote and Galaxy and the MLS made strong efforts to keep him in California, Beckham made the decision.

Leonardo, the PSG sporting director, told L'Equipe: "It's over. It's a shame. But the welfare of his family in Los Angeles, the wish not to change everything in his life, weighed heavily."

The PSG president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, said from Qatar: “We didn’t reach an agreement – he’s a great player, I met him and it’s bad luck we didn’t reach an agreement. We weren’t far, but there are family issues and I think that was the reason. It was very difficult to move the family.”

Khelaifi also told the French radio station RMC the player would be staying in the US, saying: “David Beckham is in Los Angeles and he’s going to stay over there.”.

Leonardo denied new manager Carlo Ancelotti has had anything to do with Beckham’s apparent change of heart: “It is not the arrival of Ancelotti that has changed everything.”

Guardian Service