Manchester United are confident they can satisfy David Beckham's wage demands and agree a new contract with the midfield star. United have ridiculed reports that Beckham wants a staggering £160,000-a-week to stay at Old Trafford, insisting talks have not started.
When negotiations do begin in the coming weeks, the club are optimistic that they can agree terms with the England captain. United want to reward Beckham, who is half way through a five-year deal worth a reported £28,000-a-week, but will not be held to ransom.
For his part, Beckham has already said he wants to stay at United, but only if he is happy with the new terms. David Gill, United's deputy chief executive, said on MUTV: "I think the numbers and all the hype around them are just mere speculation. There's no truth in them and we've not entered into negotiations with David Beckham's agent. He is one of the star players within the team."
United will talk to Beckham as part of a rolling process to agree new contracts with all of the club's top players, even though most of them have a couple of years left on their deals. The negotiations are likely to cost United several millions more each year in wages, but Gill claims the club want to move with the times and keep Sir Alex Ferguson's squad intact.
"We have been consistent all along that success on the pitch dictates our financial success as a group. Therefore we've been up there in terms of the pay scale already," he said.
"We will continue to be so and we look at it differently. You can't afford to have everybody on the same wage. Previously we had a ceiling, the ceiling has been broken and there will be different bands and different rates.
"We have a great band of players here, a great group that Alex has brought together over many, many years and we don't intend to see that disintegrate and the players go their separate ways."
Filed by Seán Folan
