If Real Madrid miss out on the league title this weekend it may take the players a while to forgive David Beckham and the club for the way they have handled the England captain's transfer from Manchester United.
Real players were furious at the timing of the transfer, with the announcement of the 35 million-euro move coming on Tuesday night, five days before the team's decisive final league match of the season against Athletic Bilbao.
The players were informed of the deal shortly before the news broke came and Jorge Valdano, the club's sporting director, called a meeting the following morning to explain the timing of the announcement.
PHOTO: AP
"I met with the team captains first and then the squad as a whole," Valdano said. "The signing did not come at the most opportune moment but the players are used to living with this level of media volume."
By the time Valdano spoke to the Real squad, however, senior players had been pressed for their reaction from Spanish journalists before being harassed the next morning by the huge contingent of British press in the Spanish capital.
"Raul was one of several players doorstepped at home," Real's English midfielder Steve McManaman wrote in his column in the Daily Telegraph. "A few were upset that their wives, too, were being approached. In the last two years Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo arrived with nothing like this fuss."
"Real Madrid had maintained the line that transfer talk would only start after our domestic season was over, so it is unfortunate that the news of the signing has come out a matter of days before our title decider. Distraction is the last thing players need going into the last game."
Several players had complained to the media at the way Sunday's brilliant 4-0 victory over Atletico Madrid -- a performance that put them back on course for a Spanish title win -- had been overshadowed by Beckham transfer speculation.
The news that the club had stepped in to sign Beckham ensured there would be no more talk of the league title before the Bilbao game, with all the media attention going to the England midfielder.
Real captain Fernando Hierro gave a clue as to how frustrated the players as he offered only a curt welcome to the England captain after training on Wednesday.
"We don't have much to say about the reinforcements brought in by the club," Hierro said. "We understand he's a great player and we wish him the best but he's not going to help us win the league. Next season we'll welcome him like any other player."
Beckham himself was clearly briefed on the frosty response from Real players and he apologized for the disruption.
"I want to apologize to the players because all this has not been caused by me," Beckham told a news conference in Japan, where he is currently undergoing a whistle-stop promotional tour.
"I want to say that I did not want it to distract from their last two games of the season, their fight to win the league. I didn't want anything to upset that. I wish them good luck and I'm looking forward to playing with them next season," he said.
Not all of the current crop of Real players will be in place by the time the new season starts, though.
Real's talented home-grown midfielder Guti complained on Thursday that the signing of Beckham would leave him with no option but to look for another club.
"I was improving as a midfielder when the club signed Zidane," Guti told El Mundo. "Then I started to come on as a forward and along came Ronaldo. At the moment, I'm in the national team as a midfielder and Beckham's coming. I'm a professional and I want to play football. If it's not here it will have to be somewhere else."
Guti will not be the only player to leave over the close season, with a mass clear-out expected.
"When the season's over some players will think about their futures," full back Michel Salgado said on Thursday.
"The club will no doubt make decisions on other players, too but Guti is one of the players with the most quality. He could be one of the absolute best," he said.
Beckham is guaranteed a hero's welcome in Madrid at the start of July, regardless of what happens this weekend.
The welcome he receives from his new team mates will be a lot warmer, though, if his arrival comes shortly after the club have clinched their 29th league title.
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