David Beckham hasn't waited very long into his retirement to announce his return to football, today announcing that he is to head the formation of a brand new Major League Soccer franchise based out of Miami.
The 38-year-old former Los Angeles Galaxy superstar will pour around €18 million of his own money into the venture, also revealing that he and his partners will fund the building of brand new stadium themselves instead of relying upon public funding. The stadium is speculated to be a 25,000 seater and will be located on the Miami waterfront.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon (Irish time), Goldenballs himself suggested that he had plenty of options in the United States and Canada to build a new franchise but - unsurprisingly - chose Miami, home of some of the country's best weather. Posh Spice will like that, we assume.
"Miami is a vibrant city with a lot of passion", Beckham said during the press conference. "I know it's ready for football and this will be successful. I'm committed to this league and I'm committed to this sport. There are a lot of people who want to know what we're doing and how we're doing it. I'm not in this to make money."
Beckham's Miami franchise won't be ready for action until 2017 at the earlier and you wonder whether Becks will be able to persuade any of his footballing buddies to join him in South Florida. Ryan Giggs will be a spritely 44 years old by then, surely he'll still be going?
