KEY POINTS:
When David Beckham announced he was quitting the Galcticos of Real Madrid to sign for the provincial Los Angeles Galaxy team, the transfer was lambasted - despite the player's protestations - as a move from the football pitch to the show business premier league.
He and wife Victoria
would mix with the likes of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Will Smith, Eva Longoria and Governor Schwarzenegger.
It seemed to be the ultimate realisation of celebrity dreams.
The couple's children were looking forward to playing on Malibu beach, Victoria Beckham told this to newspapers at the time.
The only problem has been the football.
The standards in Major League Soccer are, not to put too fine a point on it, well below those enjoyed in European competitions.
Since arriving in July last year, Beckham's on-field performances have failed to set alight his teammates.
With a game remaining, Galaxy is the league's second-worst team, having won two of its 15 competition games since July.
He remains an important fringe player for England but often looks tired after long transAtlantic flights.
So a winter move to the prestigious Italian team, Milan, held an obvious allure.
Milan's president confirmed Beckham will join them in January on loan from Galaxy "for a few months".
The player's advisers categorically deny he will permanently turn his back on Los Angeles.
Rumours nevertheless persist that this will be the end of Beckham's American footballing dream _ what Americans might call a permanent vacation.
Beckham moved to the showbusiness capital of the world just over a year ago, saying that he hoped to be "part of history" by helping to finally popularise "soccer" across the pond.
"I'm coming over there to make a difference [and] play football," he said.
But, in what would become a blow to LA Galaxy's pride and finances were he not to return when the American league kicks off again in April, Milan's president, Adriano Galliani, confirmed speculation Beckham will join their playing staff to help him keep his place in the England squad for next year's World Cup qualifying campaign.
"We'll sign him for a few months, and then he'll go back," Galliani said.
"Beckham has chosen Milan. Our team is very competitive and will remain as is but Beckham is something different and intriguing ... He will bring more fans."
Beckham, 33, will join a stellar if slightly long-in-the-tooth squad at the club, including the Brazil superstars Ronaldinho, Kaka and Alexandre Pato, plus Italian internationals Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso.
The England manager, Fabio Capello, has said that he will not pick players who are inactive, so Beckham's decision to spend time with Milan _ who are not paying a transfer fee, and may even escape paying his wages _ could be an attempt to extend his international career.
At present, he boasts 107 caps, just one short of the outfield record set by England's 1966 World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore, and is anxious to have a role, however peripheral, in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Quite where all of this will leave Beckham's US$6m ($$10.3) annual relationship with Galaxy remains to be seen.
It recently appointed the former US coach Bruce Arena as manager, and may now have to embark on a close-season tour of the Far East without its most lucrative "name".
News of Beckham's loan deal with Milan was conspicuous by its absence from Galaxy's website, and a spokesman failed to respond to inquiries about the Milan loan.
Beckham has played 24 of the club's 29 games this season, and scored just five goals, with nine "assists".
Although he has often been a peripheral figure on the field, Beckham's presence leaves the club with little spare cash to spend on other players, since Major League rules limit the total amount clubs can spend on wages.
Most of his teammates earn salaries less than 50,000 ($137,000).
Equally unclear is how a move to Europe will affect Beckham's family life.
Victoria is firmly settled in Los Angeles, where she forms part of the local showbusiness aristocracy.
They have recently refurbished their home in Bel Air, and their three children are settled in local schools.
If Beckham's stint at Milan is to be temporary, then his family will most likely remain eight time zones away, on the west coast of America.
However, his last attempt to work away from home, when he joined Real Madrid in 2003, ended in tears amid reports of an affair with his assistant, Rebecca Loos.
Ironically, in July, Beckham released a statement thanking Californians for their hospitality, and suggesting that he would remain in America for the long haul.
"It seems like only a few weeks ago I arrived in Los Angeles with my family ready for the next chapter in our lives," it read.
"A year later and we feel so settled here, everyone loves California and everyone has made us feel so welcome. I can't imagine being anywhere else in the world right now."
- INDEPENDENT
