David Beckham reveals Man Utd agreed to sell him to Barcelona before dramatic transfer U-turn resulted in Real Madrid move

David Beckham came close to joining Barcelona before eventually ending up at Real Madrid, the former Manchester United star has revealed.

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• Beckham spent four years at Real Madrid
• Was almost sold to Barcelona instead
• Opted for his dream move to the Galacticos

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Beckham left United to join Madrid in 2003 and went on to win a La Liga crown as part of the Galacticos team alongside Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Michael Owen, who joined a year after his fellow England star.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  However, before Madrid came to scoop up the former midfielder, United reached an agreement that would have resulted in him heading to Camp Nou instead, but he held out for a dream move to the Spanish capital.

• WHAT BECKHAM SAID

  He told : "My team was always Real Madrid and funnily enough I got sold from Manchester United to Barcelona. I was on holiday, Peter Kenyon [ex-Man Utd chairman] phoned me and he 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'd leave Manchester United but if I did, you know, I'd love to have played for Real Madrid. And if they wanted me to leave then the only club that I wanted to go to was Real Madrid."

  Beckham went on to add: "Funnily enough, in a day and a half, it happened."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR BECKHAM?

  It has been 12 years since Beckham brought an end to his playing career and he is now overseeing business as the president of Inter Miami, who face Minnesota United in MLS this weekend.