David Beckham set to stay in US after rejecting Paris move

After weeks of negotiations with PSG, the 36-year-old midfielder and former England captain decided he doesn’t want to move his family from the United States.

“David Beckham is not coming,” PSG President Nasser al-Khelaifi said at the Qatar Open tennis tournament. “We feel a little disappointed. But both sides agreed it would be better that we not do the deal. Maybe in the future.”

Beckham’s five-year contract with the Galaxy ended after he won his first MLS Cup in November. He was wooed by several clubs across Europe. “David Beckham is [with] Los Angeles,” al-Khelaifi said. “And he’s going to stay there.”

“It’s over,” the club’s sporting director Leonardo added on www.lequipe.fr. “It’s a shame. But the welfare of his family in Los Angeles, the wish not to change everything in his life, weighed heavily.”

Beckham will try to finalise a new, improved rolling one-year contract this week with the Galaxy, which was paying him an annual base salary of $6.5 million.

French media had reported that Beckham would have been paid almost double that at PSG, whose Qatari owners have spent more than $100 million on players during six months in charge.

Beckham and wife Victoria moved to California in 2007 after four years at Real Madrid. The couple now have four children and decided during a Christmas break in England that they did not want to move back to Europe permanently. “I’m very proud of the time that I’ve spent with the Galaxy and it might continue,” Beckham said recently.

The Galaxy’s recent success, and the signing of Ireland captain Robbie Keane, have shown Beckham that the LA club can meet his ambitions during the final years of his career, which began at Manchester United.

Beckham is also a regular starter with the Galaxy, whose new season begins in March. He has expressed hope of playing for Britain’s football team at the London Olympics as one of three players above the age of 23.

Keane, meanwhile, returned to his former club Tottenham Hotspur to train while reports linked him with a loan move to Aston Villa.

Keane, 31, who will lead Ireland in the Euro 2012 finals in Ukraine and Poland, is planning to train with Spurs during January to maintain his fitness during the MLS close-season.

Spurs confirmed the arrangement on their website on Monday but he could find himself playing for Aston Villa if the reported interest from manager Alex McLeish comes to fruition. McLeish came close to signing Keane last year when he was manager of Birmingham City and Keane was still at Spurs.

Keane’s temporary move back to England continues a trend, with his Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan spending two months on loan at Everton and New York Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry about to re-join his former club Arsenal on loan for two months.