A contract worth £500,000 was enough to tempt David Beckham away from the success at Real Madrid to the nothingness at LA Galaxy in the USA, but he reckons no amount of money could lure him to Manchester City.

“I would never sign for Manchester City,” said Beckham. “That’s mainly because I am a Man United fan. It doesn’t matter about money. It is always about loyalty with Manchester United. They are the team I supported and the team that I played for for years and I just couldn’t bring myself to sign for City. I couldn’t do it. City will never be bigger than United. Money does a lot for a club and a team, but being successful and being one of the most recognised clubs in the world doesn’t come from the money. It’s about history. There aren’t many clubs that can boast the history of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona or AC Milan. It’s not about having all the money in the world. All that does is creates attention but you can’t buy the history of a club.”