Real Madrid do not want David Beckham to sign a new contract, according to one club director. The unnamed board member has told Don Balón, the Spanish football magazine, that while publicly the club have said they want him to stay for two more years, privately they are hoping Beckham decides to quit for the United States at the end of the season.

The interview, which is likely to increase speculation that Real could even try to push Beckham out in January when he would still command a fee, also claims that Fabio Capello, the coach, does not want to keep Beckham. The article also quotes a member of Real’s technical staff, saying: “Why would we invest £16 million over two years on a player who is not to the liking of the coach.”

The anonymous director told Spain’s biggest-selling football magazine: “We can’t admit it but it would be best for both sides if Beckham left. Capello doesn’t want him and he can’t carry on as things are.”

The Beckham camp dismissed the reported quotes last night. A spokesman said: “If it is true, it goes against everything Capello, Ramón Calderón [the Real president] and Predrag Mijatovic [the club’s sporting director] have been saying to us and to the world’s media, that they want him to stay.”

The unnamed director added: “What Calderón said two months ago is one thing and what he wants now is another thing entirely. Capello prefers a different type of player and in the club everybody would be relieved if Beckham, of his own accord, said that he was going to play in the US. That way nobody could throw it back in Calderón’s face that he was the one who had dispensed with the services of an icon like Beckham.”

Beckham has started only three league games under Capello this season and has not started a Champions League match since Real’s opening defeat away to Lyons in September.

He has admitted that he could not tolerate a further two years on the substitutes’ bench and with Major League Soccer clubs now allowed to break their wage cap for one star player thanks to the recently passed “Beckham Rule”, it seems only a matter of time before the 31-year-old moves to the US.

While two Real veterans, Roberto Carlos and Guti, have both agreed new deals this week, Beckham’s talks are continuing and club heavyweights such as Vicente Del Bosque, the former coach, and Lorenzo Sanz, a past president, have suggested that Beckham should not be offered a new deal.

Del Bosque said: “He has had a brilliant career and his conduct is always excellent. The economic marriage between Beckham and the club could be important, but if he is not in the team it is bad business.”

Sanz added: “It’s madness to renew his contract. He is 31, he can’t contribute anything more to the club. And he doesn’t generate half the amount of money that they say he does.”

Don Balón was standing by its boardroom revelations last night, while Real refused to comment on the article.

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