David Beckham will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and join Los Angeles Galaxy on a five-year deal worth £128million ($250 million).

The former England captain finishes with the Spanish club in June and will begin his new career in Major League Soccer in August. He said in a statement: "This week, Real Madrid asked me to make a decision regarding my future and the offer to extend my contract by a further two seasons.

"After discussing several options with my family and advisers to either stay here at Madrid or join other major British and European clubs, I have decided to join the Los Angeles Galaxy and play in the MLS from August this year.

"I would like to thank the supporters and people of Madrid who have made my family and I feel so welcome in my time here, making this an extremely difficult decision to make. I have enjoyed my time in Spain enormously and I am extremely grateful to the club for giving me the opportunity to play for such a great team and their amazing fans.

"I am proud to have played for two of the biggest clubs in football and I look forward to the new challenge of growing the world's most popular game in a country that is as passionate about its sport as my own. For the rest of this season I will continue to give 100% to my coach, team-mates and fans as I believe Fabio Capello will bring this club and its supporters the success they truly deserve.

Beckham has struggled to win a first-team place under Capello, the Real coach, and decided that if he is not going to get regular matches, he would rather not be at the club. His choice of destination, however, will surprise many. The player’s advisers have been inundated with approaches from the Barclays Premiership and Coca-Cola Championship.

Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur and, more surprisingly, Sunderland have been in touch but Beckham decided that, after more than a decade at Manchester United, he did not want to play for what he believes are lesser clubs.

An approach from Marseilles, with a view to Sven-Göran Eriksson taking charge in the South of France, was rejected as the allure of working with the former England head coach is not as strong as many thought.

Beckham believes he can change the perception of football in the US while a relaxation of the salary cap in MLS means he will not have to take a pay cut. The move to LA brings other advantages, too. Beckham’s academy shares its home with the Galaxy at the Home Depot Centre in Carson, California, while he has close ties personally with AEG.

The timing of Beckham’s decision is a result of Real’s repeated attempts to force his hand, which came to a head yesterday on a day of claim and counter-claim. Having issued a one-week deadline earlier in the week, Predrag Mijatovic, the Real sporting director, went a step farther by appearing to suggest that Beckham’s contract would not be renewed, although such a notion was denied by all parties.

Asked by a Sky Italia interviewer if Beckham’s contract would be renewed, Mijatovic said: “No [pause]. No. Beckham’s contract has not been renewed.” With something appearing to have gone missing in translation, Mijatovic’s words were reported as “Beckham will leave us, we will not renew his contract”, leading to a series of denials. After initially denying that any interview had taken place, Real claimed that Mijatovic had been misquoted, which Beckham’s camp concurred with. Whatever the truth, the player's departure would appear to suit both parties.

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