Leicester bid to lure Beckham

The 36-year-old’s contract with Los Angeles Galaxy ends later this year and, with a place in Great Britain’s Olympic squad up for grabs, he has been heavily linked with a move back to England. QPR and Tottenham, with whom he trained last winter, have been touted as possible destinations, but Leicester manager Eriksson is hoping to link up once again with the man who captained England during his tenure as manager.

Eriksson said: “I have already had that discussion with him. I spoke to him about Leicester. Beckham, he will never say no to me – he says, ‘Sven, we’ll see, we’ll see’. The big thing is what he wants to do when his contract finishes in LA. Will he want to go on playing?”

Eriksson knows the npower Championship side, who have received substantial investment from their Thai owners, will face stiff competition from other clubs in England, while Paris St Germain are also reported to be interested. However, the Swede hopes the incentive of a training role will help tip the balance. “We will give him a whistle and he can go out [on the training pitch] straight away,” he said.

Eriksson was the first overseas manager to take charge of England, paving the way for current manager Fabio Capello. With the Italian’s reign to end this summer, the Football Association are expected to turn to an Englishman this time around. But Eriksson thinks Arsene Wenger is a realistic candidate.

“Reporters talk about [Harry] Redknapp as the people’s choice and I’m quite sure if they could get Wenger, they would take him,” said Eriksson. “If you consider him foreign [after 15 years in England], I don’t know.”