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However, about a month later, Capello backtracked on his earlier statement, allowing Beckham to rejoin the team for the match against Real Sociedad on 10 February 2007. The player immediately repaid his head coach's trust by scoring the equalising goal from a 27-yard free kick as Real Madrid eventually recorded a 2–1 victory.[69] In his final UEFA Champions League appearance for the club, Real Madrid were knocked out of the competition by Bayern Munich at the round-of-16 stage (on the away goals rule) on 7 March 2007. The return leg against Bayern was Beckham's 103rd match in the Champions League, at the time placing him third on the all-time appearances list in the competition.


Beckham's last season in Real MadridOn 17 June 2007, the last day of the La Liga season, Beckham started in his final match for the club, a 3–1 win over RCD Mallorca, which saw them clinch the title from Barcelona. With Real down 0–1 Beckham limped off the field and was replaced by José Antonio Reyes who scored two goals leading the team to that season's La Liga title, their first since Beckham had signed with them and 30th overall in club's history. Although Real and Barca both finished level on points, Madrid took the title because of superior head-to-head record, capping a remarkable six-month turnaround for Beckham. With his wife and children along with celebrity friends Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes watching from a luxury box at Bernabeu Stadium, it was only Beckham's second piece of silverware since he joined the famous club.

Towards the end of the season, as Beckham was getting back into Capello's good books after successfully fighting his way back into the first team, Real Madrid announced they would try to untie his transfer to LA Galaxy, but were ultimately unsuccessful.[70] Several weeks before Beckham's scheduled arrival to the United States, Real's management contacted LA Galaxy's ownership group about reacquiring the player, but were quickly turned down.[71]

A month after the conclusion of Beckham's Real career, Forbes magazine reported that he had been the party primarily responsible for the team's huge increase in merchandise sales, a total reported to top US$600 million during Beckham's four years at the club.[72]

Los Angeles Galaxy
I'm coming there not to be a superstar. I'm coming there to be part of the team, to work hard and to hopefully win things. With me, it's about football. I'm coming there to make a difference. I'm coming there to play football ... I'm not saying me coming over to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America. That would be difficult to achieve. Baseball, basketball, American football, they've been around. But I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could make a difference.[73]

Beckham on going to America
From ESPN
Beckham (centre) scores his first goal for LA GalaxyBeckham's involvement with Major League Soccer began while he was still a Real Madrid player when it was confirmed on 11 January 2007 that the world's most famous footballer would be leaving Madrid in six months in order to join MLS' Los Angeles Galaxy. The speculation about his new contract in Madrid was thus put to an end and the following day Beckham's official press conference was held in conjunction with the 2007 MLS SuperDraft.[74]

Predictably, the announcement made top news all across the globe. Though many worldwide media outlets reported the deal to be worth US$250 million,[75] the astronomical figure was soon revealed to be something of a PR stunt engineered by Beckham's media handlers (British representative agency 19 Entertainment).[76] In order to maximize the media effect, in the press release they decided to list the potential sum that Beckham could make over the 5-year period from all his revenue sources, which in addition to his Galaxy pay also include his personal endorsements. Beckham's actual deal with the Galaxy was a 5-year contract worth US$32.5 million in total or $6.5 million per year.[77]

The high-profile acquisition paid immediate financial dividends for Galaxy long before Beckham joined the team. On the strength of the signing and the media frenzy it created, the club was able to pull off a new 5-year shirt sponsorship deal with Herbalife nutrition company worth US$20 million. The gate revenue peaked as well with 11,000 new season tickets holders and sold-out luxury suites (each one of the 42 inside the team's home ground, the Home Depot Center).[78] Even the LA Galaxy owners Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) saw an immediate spike in business. Involved on many business fronts worldwide, AEG was already leveraging its Beckham association in places such as China, where the company had been working aggressively in Shanghai and Beijing for years to receive clearance to build arenas and stadiums. The company's CEO Tim Leiweke put it as follows: "Suddenly, we're known as the company that owns the team that David Beckham is going to play for, so our world changed".[79]

In the months following the announcement, the additional terms of Beckham's contract became public knowledge. One unique contract provision was giving him the option of buying an MLS expansion franchise at a fixed price whenever he stopped playing in the league - an allowance that the league's owners had never given to a player before. Another provision was the opt-out clause after the 2009 season, meaning that should he decide so, Beckham was free to leave the club after completing year three of his 5-year contract.[78]