If David Beckham feels like a misfit, it is perhaps apposite that he is being linked with a man who has the appearance of a tumble-dried mountain man with a fetish for pub rock. The former England captain has long been coveted by the Los Angeles Galaxy, where Alexi Lalas, a hirsute has-been who once toured Europe with the rock band, Hootie and the Blowfish, is the president.

For Beckham’s dissenters, a move to Tinseltown would be the crowning falsehood of a career built on PR spin.

There is much more to Beckham, of course, and his advisers were quick to dismiss reports that Pedrag Mijatovic, the Real Madrid sporting director, had said that he would be leaving. However, Beckham seems unlikely to sign the two-year deal that remains on the table when he knows that he has become a bit-part player under Fabio Capello.

Significantly, Major League Soccer has passed a rule enabling clubs to circumvent the salary cap. If it is happy to bend it for Beckham, which it will have to do, given that he is worth £87 million, according to FourFourTwo’s Football Rich List, the feeling may be reciprocal.

Beckham has a football academy in Los Angeles and would relish the lifestyle. He would also be free of the cynicism and criticism that have threatened to undermine his status as a very good footballer and the United States would welcome him in a way that Italy or England could never do.

The trouble is, Beckham is only 31 and does not regard himself as a spent force as a footballer. He has fallen by the wayside at Real, where he has made only nine competitive starts this season, and has been accused by Capello of having “emotional difficulties” over his exile from the England team.

Simon Oliveira, his representative, has said that any decision Beckham makes will be a footballing one and it is hard to tally that with a move to the US, where the football is high gloss and low grade. As for enhancing his image, Max Clifford, the PR guru, said: “The sensible thing for David Beckham, in terms of prestige, would be to buy into a football club because he would become the first footballer-director. It would be something new.”

But does Beckham have the hunger to prove himself as a player after 3½ barren years in Spain? He knows that some see him as a totem to the cult of celebrity and, even in recent months, Oliveira has been forced to deny that contract talks were stalling over image rights.

There will be no shortage of takers for Beckham, money permitting, in respected football nations, but last night another queue was forming to deny any interest. The bookmakers installed Inter Milan as one of the favourites, but Marco Branca, the club’s technical director, said: “We are not interested in Beckham. We are satisfied with the players we have and he doesn’t enter our plans.”

Hot on Branca’s heels, a Marseilles spokesman said: “David Beckham is only being linked with Marseilles because of the rumours surrounding the arrival of Sven-Göran Eriksson here.”

Beckham’s advisers have said that there has been interest from Italy, France, the US and England, and if his primary motivation is to prove himself again and embarrass Steve McClaren, the England head coach, he could have the chance to do so in the Barclays Premiership.

The elite clubs would not need or want him, but Tottenham Hotspur are realistic suitors, while West Ham United and Newcastle United could do with improving morale and ability in their squads. Elsewhere, Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth have become renowned for extending careers of ageing stars but lack glamour. The clever money remains on the Malibu penthouse rather than the South Coast cowshed.

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