How David Beckham Nearly Signed for Real Madrid's Biggest Rivals

Manchester United sold David Beckham in 2003 to Real Madrid, but that's not how it was originally supposed to go down.

In an alternate universe, David Beckham was playing in Catalonia instead of Madrid. / IMAGO/Crystal Pix

David Beckham, one of the world's most popular players turned Inter Miami president and co-owner, is best remembered for his time with Manchester United and Real Madrid. Though, he revealed during the Beckham & Friends watch-along during the UEFA Champions League semifinals that he prevented the former from selling him to the latter's bitter rival.

CBS has occasionally welcomed Beckham onto their Champions League broadcast hosted by Kate Scott, Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards. The studio partnered with Beckham for a special semifinals event in which he brought along director Guy Richie and actor Stanley Tucci. The CBS team joined Beckham in their unique studio during the game to engage with their special guests.

Scott asked Beckham if he had a team in Spain growing up considering he played for Los Blancos. He revealed that while Madrid was always his team, he was almost sold to Barcelona.

Manchester United almost sold David Beckham to Barcelona 👀 pic.twitter.com/36GW9f3jFY

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 7, 2025

How David Beckham Nearly Signed for Real Madrid's Biggest Rivals

"My team was always Real Madrid and funnily enough I got sold from Manchester United to Barcelona," Beckham said. The reveal piqued the interest of Carragher and Richards. "I was on holiday, Peter Kenyon phoned me and said 'We've accepted a bid from Barcelona and we're selling you.' I said, 'If you are going to sell me, the only team I want to move to is Real Madrid,' because I always had a dream of playing for Real Madrid when I was a young kid."

"I never thought I would leave Manchester United, but if I did I would love to play for Real Madrid... so they had to backpedal and, funnily enough, in a day-and-a-half it happened."

He didn't reveal the transfer fee Man Utd and Barcelona agreed to, but he was sold to Real Madrid for $42 million (€37m).

Beckham made 159 appearances for Los Blancos scoring 20 goals and providing 51 assists. He won the Spanish Super Cup in his first season and La Liga in his final before moving to LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer. Could you imagine Beckham in those Barcelona teams? Playing alongside Messi, Xavi, Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and others?

Beckham's love for the 15-time Champions League winners didn't stop him from giving Barcelona star Lamine Yamal massive praise during the game. Since he's got a front row seat nowadays to watching Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, Beckham called Yamal the "closest thing" he's seen to the Argentine superstar.

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