“I’ve never said that I’d never move away from Manchester, and I’ve never said that I’d end my career there,” David Beckham said less than a month before he left us for Real Madrid. Some fans won’t be told though. Because Beckham watches United knock Arsenal out of the Champions League with a grin on his face, he is a United legend. Because he repeatedly tells the press leaving United was nothing to do with him, he is loved.
There’s no denying that Beckham is a fan of United. There’s no denying he’s aware of the massive mistake he made when he left us. But the way Beckham views himself, and the way some fans see him, doesn’t quite match up with the Beckham we saw towards the end of his United career, who stalled over his contract for over a year because image rights needed “perking”, who showed up late to training, and who had one of his best games in a United shirt when playing against Real Madrid, the team he joined months later in what he described as a “dream” move.
Beckham claimed this week that he was desperate to be drawn against United this year in the Champions League. In the same interview, he also told of how badly he wanted to win the competition with AC Milan.
Beckham has been granted his wish today, with United set to play Milan in the round of 16. However, for Beckham to go on to win the European Cup with the team he is on loan with, he would have to knock United out.
If Beckham scored against us and knocked us out, would you still feel the same way about him?
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