David Beckham will join AC Milan on loan on January 7, the Italian club have announced on their website. Beckham, who is under contract with LA Galaxy until June 2012, wanted to join the Serie A club during the MLS close season to keep up his fitness and improve his chances of extending his international career.

BEckham will join the club on a short-term loan deal and both parties have dismissed suggestions that the move could be made permanent were the former Real Madrid midfielder to impress it Italy.

It is understood that Fabio Capello, the England manager, telephoned Adriano Galliani, the AC Milan managing director, to vouch for Beckham's character and professionalism before the Italian club agreed in principle to the deal, with Franco Baldini, Capello's assistant, having a similar conversation with Carlo Ancelotti, the Milan coach.

Capello believes David Beckham will be an asset for Milan. "If Milan sign him they will make a great acquisition," he said earlier. "He is a very focused lad. He is a professional.

"When I left him out of the team in Madrid because he had signed the contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy, he continued to come to the pitch to train and I put him back in the team."

Umberto Gandini, a Milan director, confirmed Beckham's stay in Italy would be short and that they do not expect to be able to make the deal permanent.

"The deal will be as long as David wishes," Gandini said. "I think his commitment to MLS and Los Angeles Galaxy will take him back after a couple of months.

"I think he will have to go back to Galaxy by the time the MLS starts, and training before that."

Asked about the potential for Beckham staying with Milan on a longer-term basis, Gandini said: "No, David is committed to the Los Angeles Galaxy and the MLS.

"He thanks them for the opportunity to let him train and work with us, we're very happy for that. Only David knows his future, but for sure he has a commitment to go back to the MLS and I think he will fulfil that."

"The players understand we are the premium brand," Gandini added. "We are a fantastic club, one of the best clubs in the world. The fact they want to play with us is a great achievement.

"David Beckham will come to our club where he will have a lot of people and a lot of players that have his ability and status so I think it will be very beneficial for him and the English game."

Beckham is not certain to feature regularly for Milan, with nothing in his loan contract stipulating he will play in a specific number of games.

Gandini said: "David is coming as a Milan player and he will train with the other Milan players and the selection will be up to the coaches."

Writing on his blog earlier this week, Beckham admitted he was looking forward to joining Milan.

"One of the reasons I want to train and play in Milan for a few months is the fact that the MLS season doesn't run as long as the European season and having played most of my career in Europe, my body has been trained and geared not to have that amount of time off," he said.

"Obviously, I will be honoured to be given the chance to train and play with the likes of Ronaldinho and Kaka, but it also gives me the chance to keep my fitness up and carry that on for when I come back to the Galaxy for the new MLS season."

He rubbished suggestions he had bought a house in Milan confirmed the Galaxy remain his priority.

"Next season is an important one for the Galaxy," Beckham wrote. "We haven't been in the play-offs for three years now and for a team like LA Galaxy we all know that isn't good enough.

"(Head coach) Bruce Arena will also have had the chance over the past few months to get used to the squad and, with his experience and previous success, he'll want to make sure that we're up there competing next year."