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The following season Beckham and United got off to an in-different start. Goal highlights were a clever lob at home to Birmingham , the winner at Aston Villa, two against Real Madrid and a cracking free kick at Everton on the final day in what turned out to be his final game. A fractured rib injury in November put him out of action and just like the season before, Becks found himself on the bench for an extended period.
Ole Solskjaer laid claim to right midfield position but Beckham was soon starting again by January. It was in February that the biggest moment of the season occurred, when after the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, a livid Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a boot in the dressing room. The boot went flying through the air and hit, of all players, David Beckham, above the eye leaving a cut requiring stitches. The incident was massive news and the media speculated it was the final straw for given his past bust up's with Fergie.
Despite suspiciously ominous denials from the Spanish team, rumours began of his transfer to Real Madrid. This grew to new levels after Fergie dropped the England captain for the mega-games against Arsenal and Madrid . It was clear to all that Sir Alex no longer saw him as the essential player he had once been. Fans had noticed in recent years that he could be neutralised with clever deployment of wing backs to prevent his crosses and passing game. It was once unthinkable but now Manchester United could cope without David Beckham.
David was clearly hurt at sitting on the bench and after the Madrid defeat told his agent to tell the big clubs of Europe he was ready to leave. When Becks scored at home game to Charlton, his last game at Old Trafford - he seemed to make an tearful goodbye to the fans. But within days he declared he wasn't going anywhere and still loved playing for Manchester United as he collected another Championship medal.
However, it turned out to be a stalling tactic. In early June 2003 United announced they had agreed a fee with Barcelona for Beckham for £23 million knowing full well that he was negotiating with Real Madrid.
As suspected all along, Beckham had wanted to go to the Bernabeu giants and they wanted to add him to their "galaxy" of stars - a clandestine deal was made as far back as early May. The Barca deal was always a non-starter, the United PLC simply wanted to bring the matter to a head, coupled with the fact Sir Alex was all too willing to now cash in on his star midfielder. Things progressed quickly and on the late evening of June 17th news broke, United had agreed a fee £24.5m with Real, eventually sealed on the 2nd July.
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