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David Beckham: settled in California. Achmad Ibrahim/AP/Press Association Images
LA story

Forget Paris: David Beckham snubs PSG switch to stay in LA

“It’s over” said Paris St Germain sporting director Leonardo as Beckham makes decision for family reasons.

DAVID BECKHAM IS staying in California.

The former England captain will not now be moving to Paris St Germain, as was hoped by PSG chiefs.

The club’s sporting director Leonardo today revelaed the mooted deal is dead in the water.

Beckham’s contract with MLS side,  the Los Angeles Galaxy, has finished and he was expected to leave Robbie Keane et al at the Home Depot Arena.

PSG have enjoyed an influx of middle-eastern money and recently appointed Carlo Ancelotti as their new coach.

“It’s over,” Leonardo told  L’Equipe, “It’s a shame. But the welfare of his family in Los Angeles, the wish not not to change everything in his life, weighed heavily.”

Leonardo also said Ancelotti’s appointment had little to do with the decision.

“It is not the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti that has changed everything,” said the former Milan midfielder.

“David Beckham is not coming,” cresident Nasser al-Khelaifi said at the Qatar Open tennis tournament meanwhile. “We feel a little disappointed. But both sides agreed it would be better that we not do the deal … maybe in the future.”

Beckham’s five-year contract with the Galaxy ended after he won his first MLS Cup in November. He was wooed by several clubs across Europe.

“David Beckham is in Los Angeles,” al-Khelaifi said. “And he’s going to stay there.”

Beckham will try to finalize a new deal this week with the Galaxy, which was paying him an annual base salary of €5million. French media had reported Beckham would have been paid almost double that at PSG, whose Qatari owners have spent more than €76m on players during six months in charge.

Beckham and wife Victoria, a former member of the “Spice Girls,” moved to California in 2007 after he left Real Madrid. The celebrity couple now have four children and decided during a Christmas break in England that they did not want to move back to Europe permanently.

The Galaxy’s recent success and the signing of Ireland captain Robbie Keane have shown Beckham that the LA club can meet his ambitions for the final years of his career, which began at Manchester United.

Beckham also has expressed hope of playing for Britain’s soccer team at the London Olympics. The new MLS season starts in March.

- additional reporting AP

Update: Robbie Keane to rejoin old friends Spurs for training

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