DAVID BECKHAM’S supposed heartbreak at his treatment by Manchester United can be put into context by confirmation that he and his advisers were actively looking for a new club long before his employers accepted an offer from Barcelona. SFX, Beckham’s management company, contacted AC Milan and Real Madrid before the end of the Barclaycard Premiership season and have even spoken to Barcelona since it became clear that United and their most celebrated player were willing to part company.

Reports in Spain yesterday suggested that Beckham had already met officials from Real, the firm favourites to sign him, with another rendezvous said to be planned for June 23. While such stories may be inaccurate, it has become clear that Beckham has encouraged negotiations with potential suitors. Angry as he is at the public manner in which United have handled the transfer over the past seven days, suggestions that he is being driven from the club he loves are fanciful, to say the least.

It has emerged that Tony Stephens, Beckham’s agent, has been in regular contact with officials at Real and Milan, the player’s two preferred destinations, since April. Serious discussions with Real took place at the beginning of May, shortly before Florentino Perez, the Spanish club’s president, denied having any interest in the player — and again early last week, resulting in a formal approach from Real to United at the weekend. Dialogue with Milan, who have said that they will not be bidding, has also continued apace.

Intriguingly, Stephens also agreed to meet Joan Laporta, the Barcelona presidential candidate, while on holiday in the South of France last month. That conversation is understood to have been less productive, given Beckham’s reluctance to join a club who will be absent from next season’s Champions League, but it is at odds with the statement on Tuesday, after Laporta’s £30 million was accepted, in which SFX said that they and their client had no plans to meet Laporta or his representatives.

Beckham will return from a holiday in the United States later today, having so far kept a diplomatic silence on the matter. While his father, Ted, has said in several interviews that United are the only team that David has ever wanted to play for, the 28-year-old will need little persuasion if and when Real follow up their longstanding interest with a firm bid to United. Emotional as he will be at leaving the club where has spent the past 14 years, he is excited by the prospect of moving to Madrid.

His wife, Victoria, has rarely spoken with great wisdom about Beckham’s career plans, but, in the midst of a withering attack on Sir Alex Ferguson while on holiday in Los Angeles yesterday, she hinted at their willingness to move to pastures new. “It won’t make any difference to our lives,” she is reported to have said.

Reports have suggested that Beckham will be looking for a golden handshake worth more than £8 million when he leaves Old Trafford, to cover the last two years of his contract, but United are vehemently opposed to such a proposition. Although Becckham has effectively been made surplus to requirements by Ferguson, United sources claim that the player had shown little or no interest in signing an extension to his contract and would have left on a free transfer in two years had they not chosen to sell him.

United are aware of the conversations that have taken place between Stephens and various clubs and, at this stage, have no opposition to them. Their only concern, given Beckham’s preference for a move to Real, is the Spanish club’s track record when it has come to big transfers. As revealed in The Times yesterday, they are suspicious of Real’s methods and are adamant that any deal is agreed on their terms, which stipulate around £30 million in cash, rather than players in part-exchange.

Real have repeatedly denied an interest in Beckham, but Jorge Valdano, their sporting director, allowed the topic to return to his public agenda yesterday. “There are icons in soccer and Beckham is one of them,” Valdano said. “In our team, we have a lot of players from the south — Ronaldo, (Zinedine) Zidane, who has Arabic origins — and Beckham is the north. I think he is a complement that is especially attractive.”

Barcelona — or at least Laporta and his team — have not yet given up in their pursuit of Beckham, but their bid, which was formally accepted by United on Tuesday, seems doomed to failure unless Real refuse to meet the £30 million asking price. Beckham is set to reject Barcelona’s overtures over the weekend, although he will reconsider later in the summer if nothing else crops up; proof, if any were needed, that, while his heart is at Old Trafford, Beckham’s mind is now in Spain.

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