David Beckham has said he will sit down before Christmas with Real Madrid and agree a new contract that should take him almost to the end of his career. The former Manchester United player's current deal expires in 2007 but he has welcomed Real's early offer of talks.

    "The club have said they want to talk to me about signing a new deal and I am very happy to do that," Beckham told a press conference in Madrid yesterday. "It is important for me to have four or five more years in football. My life here is perfect and I'm happy at Real Madrid so, of course, I want to stay as long as I can.

    "We have spoken about a meeting in the next couple of months," he added, "but we'll just have to wait because we've got so many matches and I need to concentrate on the football for now."

    Beckham has not had an easy ride since moving from Manchester United in 2003. Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo is the fourth to hold the position in just over two years since Beckham joined the club and they have failed to win a major trophy in that period.

    The midfielder has been forced to endure a series of revelations surrounding his private life since arriving in the Spanish capital and admits constant media intrusion has at times been frustrating. Such revelations evidently unsettled him in the run-up to Euro 2004 and again last spring.

    But his form has picked up following a poor spell midway through last season and he appears to be rediscovering the verve that marked his first months in Madrid. He even believes his grasp of the Spanish language is also showing signs of improvement and is helping him to feel more at home.

    "The football side of things is much better now and I'm pleased with how it's going," he said "I am always going to have problems with the paparazzi. I have had two men outside my house for the last two years, which is frightening at times, but that is my life unfortunately."

    The return to action of England defender Jonathan Woodgate after a 17- month absence with injury has been another boost for Beckham even though Woodgate had a debut he will be keen to forget, scoring an own goal and being sent off in the match against Athletic Bilbao last week.

    "Obviously Jonathan was one of the best young defenders in England and now he is very important for Real Madrid," the England captain said. "We've been putting in a lot of work on our defence but with Woody, Sergio Ramos and Ivan Helguera back, we are now much better."

    Despite criticism about England's recent form and calls for him to be dropped, Beckham insists he has no intention of following rugby union counterpart Jason Robinson into international retirement.

    Robinson, 31, revealed over the weekend that he is leaving the international scene to spend more time with his family but Beckham, a year younger than the Sale winger, confirmed he intends to keep playing for the next five years, believing he still has plenty to offer Sven Goran Eriksson's beleaguered team over that period.

   西班牙皇家马德里中场球星贝克汉姆曾经不止一次地说过希望能在西班牙结束自己的职业足球生涯。为此他希望能在圣诞节前和皇马俱乐部高层就续约问题展开谈判。目前贝克汉姆同皇马的合同将在2007年到期。

    据英国《卫报》9月27日报道，贝克汉姆26日在马德里举行的新闻发布会上表示：“俱乐部已经说了希望和我谈谈续约的问题，我对此感到非常高兴”，“能继续踢4到5年足球对我来说是非常重要的一件事。我在马德里的生活非常完美，我在皇马也很快活，所以我希望在这里能想待多久就待多久。”

    “我和俱乐部已经商定在一两个月后举行会晤，”贝克汉姆透露说：“但现在我们还必须耐心等待，因为我们现在有太多的比赛，而我也需要把全部精力放在足球上。”

    虽然贝克汉姆口口声声表示他在西班牙过得很愉快，但自2003年从英超曼联转会皇马以来，他的日子过得并不轻松。在他来到皇马的两年里，加上现在的巴西人卢森博格，皇马已经换了4任主教练，而皇马却连一项冠军也没有获得过。

    除了赛场上的不得意之外，贝克汉姆在马德里的私生活也不是很太平。西班牙当地一些媒体似乎特别钟情于这位英格兰队队长的私生活，因此有关贝克汉姆家庭生活的报道不时见诸报端，所有这些让贝克汉姆在2004年欧锦赛之前和今年春季这一段时间里都倍受折磨。然而从上赛季中段开始，贝克汉姆在场上的表现开始逐渐改善，开始再现他刚来皇马第1个月时的神勇状态。贝克汉姆甚至认为自己对西班牙语的掌握也越来越好，并由此相信自己在西班牙越来越有了一种家的感觉。 　

    “从足球方面来讲，我的处境大有改善，对此我很高兴。”贝克汉姆表示：“不过那些狗仔队好像总是和我纠缠不清。为此在过去两年里，我不得已在家门口雇了两个人看家，这有时看起来很吓人，但很不幸，这就是我的生活。”

    虽然，目前媒体和球迷对贝克汉姆在英格兰队的低迷状态都颇有微词，甚至有人呼吁主教练埃里克森将贝克汉姆弃而不用，但贝克汉姆本人却一再强调无意挂靴，并透露说在今后5年内他不会考虑离开赛场，因为他相信自己在这段时间里还有能力对饱受非议的英格兰队和主教练埃里克森提供力所能及的帮助。

    （张海山）