How David Beckham paved the way for football “nursing homes”?

Lionel Messi and a host of other stars have, are, and will move to leagues like MLS, the Saudi Arabian Premier League, or even Australia. So, have we ever wondered when and how these leagues became the "nursing homes" of European football? Are these the only options for "retirement" for players on the other side of their careers? The following article will partly answer those questions.

How Beckham Built the MLS "Nursing Home"

On a July day nearly 20 years ago, 5,000 fans and 700 media personnel from newspapers large and small across the United States flocked to the Home Depot Center, now known as Dignity Health Sports Park, to witness a historic moment for American football, a moment as important as the moment America was chosen to host the 1994 World Cup, when David Beckham - the "million pound king" of English football in particular and Europe in general, moved to America.

And it was from this moment that Lionel Messi, the new “emerald” of the Inter Miami project headed by David Beckham, and before that countless other names, moved to the most prestigious American football playground called Major League Soccer, or abbreviated as MLS.

“It’s interesting that Messi is moving to David’s team,” Tim Leiweke, former director of the Anschutz Entertainment Group and “chief architect” of the project to bring David Beckham to LA Galaxy, told The Athletic in a recent phone interview. “You could say Beckham is making the most of what he created.”

David Beckham on the day of his debut with his new club LA Galaxy. Behind him is the "chief architect" of this deal, Mr. Tim Leiweke. Source: Bleacher Reports.

According to The Athletic, David Beckham himself created the “retirement home empire” called Major League Soccer, thereby paving the way for many other football “retirement home” models. So, how did the English player and the Major League Soccer Organizing Committee do it?

According to this news site, Beckham's move to MLS caused the organizing committee of the top league in the "land of the Stars and Stripes" to create a rule that was applied to MLS right from the first season Beckham moved to Home Depots. According to this rule, teams have the right to spend more money on a number of players called "marquee players", which are a group of players who "promote" the team that the player participates in, most of whom are players who are on the other side of their careers. After the success of this model, the Australian National Championship also followed a similar model to the "marquee players" model of American football. Also according to this rule, each club will have a maximum of 3 "marquee players" on their team.

Few people know that Tim Leiweke was the one who “persuaded the owners of Major League Soccer to the point of breaking their tongues” to implement his project called “David Beckham rules”. Thanks to that, MLS has witnessed the arrival of a series of famous names such as Thierry Henry, Kaka, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Didier Drogba. Not to mention the late star of football like Miguel Almiron, who played at Atlanta United before being recruited by Newcastle United 4 years ago in the winter transfer window of the 2018-2019 season.

According to sources close to The Athletic, Inter Miami, the team owned by Beckham himself, is also using the rule named after him to bring Lionel Messi and his former teammate Sergio Busquets to Lockhart Stadium next season. It can be said that without this “Beckham rule”, the above-mentioned famous names would never be able to reach the highest level of the American league.

To bring Lionel Messi to Lockhart Stadium, David Beckham "took advantage of what he created" according to former president Tim Leiweke. Source: Goal.

Another thing that helped Inter Miami sign Lionel Messi, according to The Athletic, was the “extra” benefits that came with the contract between the two sides. A trick that LA Galaxy used when David Beckham was about to sign a contract with LA Galaxy more than a decade ago. To be more precise, it was the “delicious bait” that LA Galaxy set up to lure David Beckham away from European football that created a precedent for MLS teams to follow in the following seasons.

Specifically, the contract between LA Galaxy, MLS and David Beckham has quite a few commercial benefits. In addition, it also comes with entertainment benefits for LA Galaxy's owner, Anschutz Entertainment Group, and Simon Fuller, the music manager and "notorious strictest" judge on American Idol, and his company, 19 Entertainment. Another person who benefits from this deal is Victoria Beckham, wife of the talented midfielder of English football, and also a former member of the famous band Spice Girls.

According to The Athletic, the move to the top flight of the US has raised Victoria Beckham’s profile on the world stage in general and in Hollywood in particular. The former Spice Girls star has her own hour-long special called “Victoria Beckham: Coming To America,” which is quite similar to Georgina Rodríguez, who launched a documentary in collaboration with Netflix after becoming the partner of Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently “fighting” in Saudi Arabia with the Al Nassr Club.

According to The Athletic, thanks to this move to MLS, the former Spice Girls got to know Hollywood A-listers like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. In addition, the most famous couple in England also appeared on the list of celebrity couples with the highest assets in Hollywood with 58 million USD, second only to the couple Jay-Z-Beyonce and Will-Jada Pinkett Smith.

Three of Hollywood's richest couples of the early 21st century in one frame. Source: Toledo Blade.

According to Simon Fuller, this deal also stems from the ambition to "conquer America" ​​of the British manager and his client. Specifically, he shared with Grant Wahl, the late veteran journalist in his book: "Reach for the stars. If we can't reach them, at least we tried our best. And if we reach them, you are the one who makes history."

Is this the only trend?

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, or before that names like Oscar, Hulk, Marouane Fellaini, all chose different “nursing homes” for their careers, which are tournaments “within their reach” to enjoy the last days of their careers. However, the world’s top players do not always choose to “retire” at clubs in the “lowlands” of world football like that.

Some players will follow the path of Ha Tri Chuong in the past after "retiring from office", which is to return to their "old hometown, old home", where they have been attached for a long time. Some have achieved great success with this "homecoming". For example, the case of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who "turned back to his hometown" Milan and then won the last Scudetto title of his career with the Rossoneri in the 2021-2022 season.

"Out of date" is a word that has never been in Zla10's dictionary... Source: Sportsmax.TV

Another case that is even more perfect than Ibra is Ivan Rakitic, who after many years of fighting for Blaugrana, the lifelong dream of players who have fought in La Liga, returned to his "homeland" Sevilla 3 years ago in the summer transfer window of 2020, and then, together with Sevilla, he wrote the journey to Sevilla's 7th Europa League title last season, a glorious title but also tinged with controversy because of the "incomprehensible" decisions of the referee against AS Roma, the runner-up of the Europa League that season.

... or Ivan Rakitic. Source: Football Espana.

It can be seen that each player will have different ways to “retire”. Some will go to “lowland” football teams to play the last years of their career calmly, but some still want to prove to their “old place”, especially those players who feel they still “owe” something to the place that built their career. Each person will have different successes in their career, but all will have to remember the person who paved the way for the “retirement trend” at the top of European football in tournaments such as MLS, Saudi Arabian National Championship or A-League, that is David Beckham, the one-time legend of Old Trafford.

KDNX

Photo and document sources: The Athletic, Football Espana, Goal, SportsMax...

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/the-thao-quoc-te/nbsp-david-beckham-da-mo-duong-cho-cac-vien-duong-lao-bong-da-nhu-the-nao/193082.htm