David Beckham, Milan, Galaxy Finally Make Deal

Hallelujah. The protracted, tedious and seemingly never-ending saga between David Beckham, AC Milan and the Los Angeles Galaxy has finally and officially reached it's conclusion, as all sides came to an agreement Sunday.

The Galaxy management are trying to spin that this was a good deal, since they get a friendly with AC Milan and cash compensation. Perhaps the Galaxy's only win in the ordeal is that they didn't end up completely red-faced and empty handed.

Sunday morning the clubs agreed to extend Beckham's loan until the end of the Italian season, then he'll return to MLS and play from July until October. After that, he'll return to Italy and finish out the 2009-10 season with Milan, which would likely mean buying out his contract, so in effect there'll be another saga in this story at the end of the year.

What exactly anyone is going to get out of Beckham's July-October MLS cameo is anyone's guess. The Galaxy are going to cut ticket prices and offer fans refunds. Will the league in good conscience hype Beckham's summer arrival and spend all their promotional budget on him, when anyone with half a brain knows it's a lame duck situation?

Is it possible Beckham has a change of heart if the Galaxy have a great season? Possibly, but not very likely. Beckham is hellbent on becoming the first England field player to play in four World Cups and it's all but certain England coach Fabio Capello won't select him if he's plying his trade in MLS.

So, that is apparently that for Beckham's big American experience. He came, he saw, he sold a bunch of replica shirts. Did he turn MLS into one of the big leagues in America? No. Did he increase exposure of the league? A little bit. Will he be missed when he's gone? Probably not.

Latest David Beckham Images

AC Milan's Filippo Inzaghi celebrates with his teammates David Beckham (R) and Pato (L) after scoring a second goal against Atalanta during their Italian Serie A soccer match at the San Siro stadium in Milan March 8, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo (ITALY SPORT SOCCER)

Reuters

Victoria Beckham attends the Serie A football match AC Milan vs Atalanta at San Siro Stadium in Milan on March 8, 2009. Victoria's husband, the soccer star David Beckham and Italian team AC Milan have today confirmed that a deal has been agreed between the Italians and Los Angeles Galaxy that enables David Beckham to stay in Italy until the end of the season. "I'm grateful to both clubs for making this dream come true," said the former England captain, adding "My family is happy and settled and will remain in LA. The perfect result for 2009 would be for me to help Milan to reach the Champions League and for the LA Galaxy to make the playoffs and win the MLS Cup." The deal follows weeks of negotiations between the two clubs during which Milan baulked at the size of transfer fee demanded by Galaxy --..AFP PHOTO / GIUSEPPE CACACE (Photo credit should read GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

AC Milan's Filippo Inzaghi (L) celebrates with his teammate David Beckham after scoring a second goal against Atalanta during their Italian Serie A soccer match at the San Siro stadium in Milan March 8, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo (ITALY SPORT SOCCER)

Reuters

AC Milan's Filippo Inzaghi (L) celebrates with his teammate David Beckham after scoring a second goal against Atalanta during their Italian Serie A soccer match at the San siro stadium in Milan March 8, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo (ITALY SPORT SOCCER)

Reuters

AFP/Getty Images

(FILES) File photo taken December 20, 2008 shows British footballer David Beckham holding an AC Milan jersey at an official presentation at the San Siro stadium in Milan. The soccer star and Italian team AC Milan have on March 8, 2009 confirmed that a deal has been agreed between the Italians and Los Angeles Galaxy that enables Beckham to stay in Italy until the end of the season. "I'm grateful to both clubs for making this dream come true," said the former England captain, adding "My family is happy and settled and will remain in LA. The perfect result for 2009 would be for me to help Milan to reach the Champions League and for the LA Galaxy to make the playoffs and win the MLS Cup." The deal follows weeks of negotiations between the two clubs during which Milan baulked at the size of transfer fee demanded by Galaxy -- thought to be around 12 million euros. AFP Photo / Files / GIUSEPPE CACACE (Photo credit should read GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

Victoria Beckham, wife of AC Milan's David Beckham of England, arrives to watch the Italian Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Atalanta at the San Siro stadium in Milan March 8, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo (ITALY SPORT SOCCER ENTERTAINMENT)

Reuters

Victoria Adams, wife of AC Milan English soccer star David Beckham, arrives prior to the start of the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Atalanta at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

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It's easy to take a cynical approach to Beckham's failed impact on American and MLS. You could even call him a weasel for jumping out of his contract at the first chance he got. (Can you really blame a player of his caliber for wanting to play with an elite club like Milan? Though there are plenty of empty seats, Serie A matches aren't played in minor league baseball stadiums.)

Yet in the end, MLS used Beckham and Beckham used MLS. When he signed in January 2007, he'd been benched by Real Madrid and sent home by England. In short, nobody wanted him. MLS and Beckham's management team made a sweetheart deal that created headlines and at the very least revived Beckham the brand, if not Beckham the player.

And Beckham the player never really got a chance to shine in MLS. He was hurt when he came over and rushed into a silly ESPN friendly with Chelsea and drew a two-foot slide tackle from Steve Sidwell which basically derailed the would-be 'Summer of Beckham.

There were a few memorable moments -- notably big crowds in Washington and New York -- but overall Beckham and the Galaxy couldn't find the right mix of players or coaches to even get the club in the playoffs. Yet anyone that expected a then 32-year-old free kick specialist to set the league on fire probably only knew of Beckham through that Kiera Knightley flick. Maybe even more unrealistic were people who thought a famously-coifed Englisman with a tiny voice would become a media darling.

Off the field, in the long term we'll probably see that Beckham did have a positive impact on MLS. Since Beckham's arrival the league has sold more shirt sponsorships, increased its expansion fees and exposure. Beckham certainly put more casual fannies in the seats than anyone else has in MLS. Logic would dictate at least some small percentage of people that came just see No. 23 come to their city became MLS fans after the fact.

Did the league shake any of the stigma that it's an inferior league in the eyes of Europeans and U.S. soccer snobs? Probably not, but one man is never going to do that -- only time will.

And time will pretty much tell about Beckham in America. Before he arrived in America he shot some ads for Disney in the garb of a fairy tale knight fighting a fire-breathing dragon. In a lot of ways that sums up the Beckham's MLS experiment.

Except unless somehow he manages to lead the Galaxy to a league championship on his assumed fairwell tour over the summer this tale won't have a happy ending. Instead he and his Princess Posh will retreat to Italy and everybody will wake up and forget this Beckham American dream ever happened.