LA Galaxy boss Leiweke wants Beckham’s new Milan loan set in 2 weeks before MLS playoffs

LA Galaxy boss wants Beckham loan done

LONDON — The Los Angeles Galaxy want David Beckham’s expected loan to AC Milan to be completed in the next two weeks so the deal doesn’t distract from the team’s bid for the MLS Cup.

The English star has helped the Galaxy make the Major League Soccer playoffs for the first time in four years and the Nov. 22 final is within reach.

But he also wants to join a top European club in January leading to the World Cup to help him stay on the England team coached by Fabio Capello. Beckham is eager to return to Milan after a loan there earlier this year.

“We want to get it done, for him and for us and I don’t want any confusion,” Tim Leiweke, chief executive of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Galaxy, said Thursday. “It’s the same with Landon (Donovan). There is a lot of rumors of whether he is staying or going. We’re going to clear that up in the next two weeks because we want the team to be focused.”

Leiweke wants Beckham to return to the Galaxy after the 2010 World Cup despite the hostile reception from Galaxy fans when he returned in July after spending the first half of the year at Milan.

“I talk to David a lot and this year a lot more because I wanted to make sure he didn’t get down and that it would work out,” Leiweke said. “We have a deep appreciation of what he is doing over here with his national team. I wanted him to know that we will support him so we are going to lend him out.”

Beckham is 11 appearances away from retired goalkeeper Peter Shilton’s record 125. He could match the mark if England advances deep into the World Cup, which starts in June.

But with the final not until July 11, Beckham will miss the first three months of the MLS season.

“We’re not going to give him as much time off this time — he’s going to have to earn his keep,” Leiweke cracked. “He will have a little time off. I admire what he is doing with the caps. It’s historical and legendary.

“We’re honored to have a player of his magnitude playing at the World Cup. We’re going to have four or five of them from the Galaxy at the World Cup and that is real progress for the league and team.”