Beckham gets okay to be the Loan Ranger... With a Possible Debut For Spurs Against Manchester United

David Beckham was finally given the green light to return to England’s Premier League last night – and he could make his debut against former club Manchester United at Spurs on January 19.

LA Galaxy took their time over granting permission for their best-paid player to spend two months on loan with Harry Redknapp’s side, worried lest he repeat the Achilles injury he sustain when playing for Milan last season.

But they have risked the ire of their considerable support by allowing him to play for the North London club Beckham, now 35, supported as a boy growing up in Leytonstone. His grandfather was also a mad Lilywhites fan.

Galaxy are believed to have agreed the move because both clubs are linked to AEG, the entertainment company which is helping Spurs in their bid to take over the Olympic Stadium in Stratford after London 2012.

England’s most capped outfield player is expected agree the loan deal tomorrow and will be presented to the White Hart Lane faithful on Sunday before the FA Cup third round clash against Charlton Athletic.

Redknapp’s master plan of buying Beckham and grooming a successor is likely to fail, given news that Beckham will be entitled to buy an MLS franchise “at 2007 prices” if he fulfils his contract with Galaxy, which ends in November. He is believed to be planning to buy New York Cosmos for £16m.

The first clue to his future came yesterday morning with the news that his three sons, Brooklyn, 11, Romeo, eight, and Cruz, 5, had been enrolled at an expensive private school near his London home north of London.

Spurs will pay a loan fee of around £500,000 to LA Galaxy and offer a weekly wage of around £120,000 to Beckham, though there may be hard bargaining during today’s meeting with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy. Depending on his fitness – and that of rival right-sided midfielder Aaron Lennon – he could play a maximum of ten games for Spurs, including the two Champions League clashes against AC Milan, where he spent his last two winters.

Beckham, linked to Spurs since a lunch at Harrods with Harry’s son Jamie two weeks ago, hopes playing for Spurs will enhance his chances of adding to his 115 England caps.

Boss Redknapp feels the positives of signing Beckham – which will include significant shirt sales – amount to more than the negatives of having the megastar on board for two months before the MLS kicks off on March 15.

Redknapp, also linked with a £30m bid for Newcastle striker Andy Carroll yesterday, said: "It will be great to have David around. He'll be a great role model for the young players.”

One of those youngsters is Bongani Khumalo, the 23-year-old South African who arrived in London this morning to begin his Tottenham career after a £1.5m move from SuperSports United.

Khumalo could also find himself training with Bafana Bafana team-mate Steven Pienaar before the January transfer window closes. Boss Redknapp repeated his interest in the unsettled Everton ace yesterday, telling Sky News: "If Pienaar doesn't sign a contract he'll be a great free transfer for someone at the end of the year, if he doesn't stay at Everton.

"He still belongs to Everton, so it's a difficult one. They are still trying to keep him. We'll wait and see what happens."

Khumalo, the 23-year-old Supersports United captain finally sorted out the delays caused by England’s bitter winter to catch his Heathrow flight last night - and he remains a possibility to play against Charlton.

But with William Gallas fit again to slot in next to Michael Dawson, Khumalo may find himself dropping down the central defensive pecking order. Younes Kaboul is serving a Premier League ban after his red card against Newcastle and Sebastien Bassong is returning to fitness while Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate remain on the long-term casualty list.

After a farewell party with his Matsatsantsa team-mates at Zwartkop near Pretoria, Khumalo’s manager Glyn Binkin confirmed: "Bongani has flown out to Heathrow. Everything is sorted out, he’s got his visa.”

Khumalo’s deputy at Supersports, Thabo September said: " We really enjoyed our football with Bongani as our captain We spent three fruitful seasons together. The team-work was amazing, he showed great leadership - and he will continue working hard in Europe.”

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Lalas Shoots Down The Loan Ranger: Beckham May Have To Stay on Holiday

Harry Redknapp’s loan ranger master-plan was in tatters last night after former LA Galaxy manager Alexi Lalas poured cold water on David Beckham’s chances of appearing in a Tottenham shirt later this month.

Lalas, in charge of Beckham’s MLS club from 2006-2008, said: "The reason David went on loan to Milan for the last two years was to prepare, in theory, for the World Cup.

"I think that was commendable and understandable to a certain extent - but now it is happening again I'm not sure."

Redknapp has been most vocal in his interest in taking Becks – England’s most capped outfield player – on loan, though Newcastle and Blackburn have also expressed an interest this week.

But Lalas told BBC Radio 5 live: "Soccer fans in the US say David Beckham has given a lot, but he's also taken a tremendous amount out of Major League Soccer."

Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy’s second most famous player, has already rejected the chance to go out on loan as he did so successfully with Everton before the World Cup. And American fans remain furious over the six-month Achilles tendon injury 35-year-old Beckham suffered playing on loan for AC Milan against Chievo in March.

That put him out of the World Cup and saw him appear only as a bit-part player in the regular season last year, playing just five games. The MLS’s best paid player was booed by Galaxy fans when he came back from his loan spell at the San Siro in 2009 and Lalas admits: "When Landon Donovan comes out and says he won’t go on loan this year, it certainly puts pressure on David."

Redknapp has toned down his need for Beckham, whose MLS season kicks-off on March 15, admitting: "Weeks fly by and this month will have come and gone before we know where we are. It's a difficult one. But let's wait and see, it's not in my hands.

"He'd be great to have around the place and I'm sure he's got a lot to offer as a player and a person. As a professional, he's top class."

Blackburn’s new owners – India’s chickens-to-chemicals Venky Group - have said their club are "open whenever David is ready to come". They have also confirmed a £6.2m bid for Brazilian Ronaldinho.

Beckham remains keen to gain some playing time in the Premier League to enhance his chances of adding to his record 115 England caps. Under pressure Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, in charge of Milan when Beckham was his loan ranger, said: “Beckham could be good support for Tottenham if he comes back. But we are not interested. In that position we have good players."

Harry Redknapp Ends The Great Debate: David Beckham's on His Way To Spurs for three months

THE great David Beckham debate appears to be over. The world’s best known footballer WILL come back to the English Premier League and spend three months on loan at Tottenham Hotspur.

Here it is from the horse’s mouth. Harry Redknapp, the man who has transformed the north London club in two short years, said: "David wants to come over here to the freezing cold and play football. Doesn't that tell you something about the boy that he lives in Los Angeles and might be a billionaire?

"It’s not about money. We’re not great payers here and in the short term, he's not going to sell a load of shirts. He is a local boy isn't he? Leytonstone?

"We'll contact LA Galaxy to see if they will let him go and if David is up for a three-month deal, we are definitely interested.”

So there it is. Bongani Khumalo, currently en route to North London after his £1.5m transfer from South African champions Supersports United, will welcome the news. Imagine playing behind the great Becks himself in the FA Cup clash against Charlton on 9 January!

That might be a bit early for Becks but with the Major League Soccer season starting on 15 March, Beckham, 35, will get to feature in the Champions League knock-out clashes on 15 February and 9 March against AC Milan, the club he had a similar loan spell with in 2009 and 2010.

And of course he gets to be a thorn in the side of his old boss Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United, the club where he made his name, playing 394 games and winning the Premier League title six times. In the past he has said he would not play for a club England because of his love for United. But all that changed when he was picking up the BBC’s lifetime achievement award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony this month. He told a stunned audience in Birmingham: “I won’t be going back to AC Milan this time because it is not possible to go onto the roster for such a short length of time.

“But I will be going back somewhere, as I want to keep myself fit and keep myself in with a chance of getting called up for England again. To do that, I have to be somewhere, so fingers crossed I can sort something out.”

Though LA Galaxy could yet refuse permission for Beckham to go on loan, Redknapp grinned: “He isn't going to come here and get big money ... but he wants to come over here to the freezing cold and play football.

"I'm sure he can still do a great job at the top level, otherwise I wouldn't bother. And it’s not about cash. We aren't massive payers at this club.”

Courted by Everton, West Ham, his old United pal Steve Bruce at Sunderland and Sven Goran Eriksson’s Championship club Leicester, Stoke were the last club to express an interest. But Spurs, Beckham’s boyhood club when he was growing up in Leytonsone, near Tottenham, in London, will do the trick as he continues to rehabilitate after the six-month Achilles injury which forced him out of World Cup contention.

The stated aim? To play for England again, to add to his record 115 caps, the last won under Fabio Capello in the 3-0 win over Belarus in October, 2009.

Redknapp knows the deal isn’t done but admits: "I'm not saying he's going to come in and take Aaron Lennon's place wide on the right but he would be a good option.

"I am sure Aaron would love to work with him, on his crossing and everything, and on his final ball. He would be a good influence around the place."

Certainly his knowledge, after acting as an England coach in Phokeng during the World Cup, would also benefit Bafana Bafana’s 23-year-old new arrival Khumalo. The question is, with Beckham there on loan, will Redknapp persevere with the £2m move for fellow South African Steve Pienaar, out of contract at Everton in the summer? He may well now wait until he is available for free in June.

And as for the overwhelming media scrum, Redknapp laughs: "I don't think it would be a distraction. Once you're in here, the gates are shut.

“He could sit in his fantastic house with a pool and enjoy his life for a few months before he starts with LA Galaxy again. I've heard stories about how much he earns, it is just incredible, mind-blowing.

“He could buy any football club in this country if he wanted to. He is not going to do it for the money is he? But he wants to come. He’s still got real passion for the game. He’ll give the whole place a real lift.”

Hobbling Becks and Galaxy of stars lose in shoot-out

DAVID BECKHAM was forced to play 120 minutes with an ankle injury last night as LA Galaxy went down 5-4 on penalties in the MLS final after being held 1-1 by Real Salt Lake at Seattle.

The former England captain, scheduled to join AC Milan on loan next year in a bid to keep himself in Fabio Capello's thinking for the World Cup in South Africa next year, needed three painkilling injections on his bruised joint to make the glitzy showdown in front of 46,000 but he was clearly struggling - particularly in extra-time when he wandered up front to hobble about after the Galaxy had made their maximum three substitutions.

Beckham, who has also been suffering a "persistent cold" admits that, at 34, the "bones start to ache that bit more" and he looked like he could do with a break until the transfer window opens and he can return to Serie A action in January.

Still, Beckham was able to stick away the first penalty in the shoot-out only for the MLS's Most Valuable Player Landon Donovan to miss his first-ever spot-kick as the Galaxy threw it away.

Beckham and Donovan - at loggerheads early in the season after the American accused Becks of a lack of commitment - combined to produce the opening goal for Mike Magee four minutes before half-time.

But former Galaxy striker Robbie Findley levelled for Salt Lake in the 64th minute and, after seven minutes of injury time, the extra half-hour failed to separate the Galaxy's stars and the MLS's newest franchise.

Beckham, with his sticky-up Jedward hairstyle lampooned by the US commentators (see picture, they said "he loves to draw attention to himself", "he considers himself a fashionista off the pitch"), bravely stuck away his penalty in the shoot-out but Donovan, Jovan Kirovski and Edson Buddle all missed as it went to sudden-death and after £12m and three seasons, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder failed to join Trevor Steven (Everton, Marseille, Rangers) as a title winner in three different countries.

Beckham said: “It’s quite a few times I’ve lost on penalty shoot outs now. It was Russian roulette, not a nice way to lose, but we can be proud of ourselves for getting to this point. But that’s the way it is in soccer.”

And with rumours that he will buy his own MLS franchise next season, Beckham insisted: “I’ll definitely be back to win the MLS title.”

Donovan said: "What you don't see is that this guy has been hurt or sick for probably the last seven games but he just gets on with it."