Curva tiene gusto del Beckham

David Beckham makes a free kick; Photo - AP

News of David Beckham's possible move from Manchester United to Barcelona has not only British soccer enthusiasts freaking out, but the entire United Kingdom reeling as well. The Times tries to give its Stateside readers perspective of how devestating this is to Brits. The Sun says the Beckham feels "stabbed in the barc", and other sources also say Beckham is upset by it, with his eye towards vetoing it. Gothamist is fascinated by the language of the deal: In U.S. sports, it would be a trade, but under these circumstances, Beckham would be sold to Barcelona. Sold. Like chattel.

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By Jen Chung on June 11, 2003 12:13 AM

Comments [rss]

Jen

I just like using the word chattel. I don't get to use it very often.

sakana

they generally don't do "trades" in upper level european soccer. player for player deals aren't very common-- usually it's a guy for a "transfer fee," the massiveness of which depends on many, only somewhat comprehensible, factors.

Felix

In US sports it would be a "trade"? A trade of what, exactly? David Beckham for $45 million? That's the ultimate euphemism, really. "I went down to the grocery store today and traded $3.49 for a can of coffee."

Also, it's worth remembering that Beckham has veto power over the deal, which hardly makes him chattel: he has the ability to decide whether or not he gets sold. But Man U has now made it extremely clear that they don't want him, so it's unlikely he'll stay for long.

Max Power

Beckham would get a percentage of the sale and rights to renegotiate his contract so, if anything, he's better off than an American sports star who hasn't negotiated a no-trade clause in his contract.