Milan miss deadline but hope to keep 'indispensable' Beckham

Published on Saturday 14 February 2009 18:37

DAVID Beckham will get his first taste of a Milan derby tonight and Carlo Ancelotti still hopes it will be the first of many for the England midfielder.

Beckham's loan deal at AC Milan is set to come to an end on March 9 and although the Serie A club are in negotiations to make his stay at San Siro permanent, their hopes of doing so appeared to have evaporated when Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena insisted he had to return to the USA after the Italians failed to agree a deal before last night's deadline.

However, Milan general manager Adriano Galliani claims there is still time to sign Beckham on a long-term basis and Ancelotti hopes the Rossoneri, who face bitter rivals Internazionale this evening, succeed in their bid.

"I don't know if it will be Beckham's last derby," said the Milan coach. "But I hope he can play many more derbies with the Milan shirt. At the moment he is indispensable for Milan. We still have 20 days to close the deal. The Galaxy are trying to force the situation but there is still time until March 9."

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber had warned the Italian club they had to agree a deal by Friday if they wanted to sign the 33-year-old permanently.

When no acceptable offer was forthcoming Arena insisted Beckham would be returning to America, and the chief executive of Galaxy owners AEG, Tim Leiweke, also claimed that no late offer would be considered.

However, Galliani is confident Milan have not missed their chance. "There wasn't any ultimatum," he said. "The negotiations for Beckham are continuing. Let's see what will happen in a month."

In Serie A last night, top scorer Marco Di Vaio netted his 16th goal of the season to earn lowly Bologna a 1-1 draw at Napoli. The former Italy forward equalised in the 23rd minute, tapping in the rebound from a shot by Sergio Volpi. Christian Maggio had sidefooted Napoli ahead three minutes earlier after a German Denis cross from the right of the area.

Lazio halted their slide with a 1-1 draw at home to Torino. Ignazio Abate's first goal in the top flight put Torino on course for their first away win of the season after 36 minutes, but Sebastiano Siviglia equalised in the 75th minute.

In Spain, Samuel Eto'o scored twice to help Barcelona rally from two down to draw 2-2 at Real Betis, stretching their lead in La Liga to 13 points.