Promote It Like Beckham

Tottenham Hotspur have pulled off a nifty coup for the New Year, bringing David Beckham in to train after a few weeks of speculation and “will he/won’t he?” in the tabloids. Regarding Beckham actually playing for the team, nothing is certain still, but that is hardly the point.

The point is that this is a perfect way for Beckham to maintain his British profile prior to LA Galaxy’s season start in March, it’s not a bad way for Beckham to get fit for that purpose too and, if he does sign, Spurs will be able to turn quite some coin on the back of the fans who will want Beckham shirts.

It’s not just about money; it’s a perfect way to raise the Spurs profile, too. Harry Redknapp is playing a good game of using the Beckham momentum to keep the team in the public eye – they’ve everything to play for as the football season rumbles slowly towards the close as they’re in the running for a lucrative
Champions League place.

What it’s not about, of course, is the speculation that Spurs are trying to pip West Ham to the post over the post-2012 use of the Olympic Stadium. Beckham’s people have said that he’d never be involved in something so grubby as that sort of power play…