David Beckham, The Rossineri and Meat Loaf Soccer

As David Beckham nursed a tight calf on the flight back from Bremen this morning, he had an awful lot of occupy his mind. Two weeks on Monday, Beckham will either have his way as a permanently signed up member of the Rossineri, or he will fly back to L.A with the duration of a Transatlantic flight to carefully position his tail between his expensive and celebrated legs.

The 9th March is the day that Beckham is expected back at the Home Depot centre in Los Angeles to begin preparations for his third season in Major League Soccer, yet his stint in Europe's fashion capital , however brief, has re-lit his fire with regard to top-level European football. Indeed, Beckham's admiral fitness has only been improved from 6 weeks at the famous "A.C Milan Lab", famed for allowing pros to continue their careers into their late thirties and early forties.

However, if Beckham is to have his wish and turn his back on the Galaxy and stay in Serie A, a financial minefield is still to be negotiated. Most news outlets are quoted as saying that Milan have bid anywhere between £5m-£6.7m with Galaxy reportedley holding out for something north of £10m. And why wouldn't they? Beckham did sign a five year deal taking him through to 37 in 2007, which, after sponsors and endorsements were included, would see the MLS smash its wage ceiling to the tune of $200million. The price? Beckham had to trade his twilight footballing years from La Liga, the Iglesias of world football, trim, easy on the eye with fans around the world, for the MLS, where clapped out performers have one last hurrah, the Meatloaf you could say.

Beckham's impact on the Galaxy and the MLS cannot be overstated, with Beckham's arrival seeing a 25% increase in Galaxy's home attendance and 7% added to the overall MLS attendance. Most tellingly of all, TV ratings for games featuring Beckham had, on average, 68% more viewers in American households than games without him, showing how key he is, and may yet continue to be, to "soccer's"efforts to increase market penetration Stateside.

So is Beckham merely watching from the stands as this clash between two footballing franchises with contrasting heritages duel over his famous signature. Not entirely. Beckham can, in theory, buy out his LA Galaxy contract immediately for £18 million, allowing him free to put pen to paper with Milan, or whoever tickles his fancy. Beckham would then we free to assist AC Milan's UEFA Cup campaign & title challenge through to their respective conclusions. That said, if Beckham wants European football and a title challenge, as a free agent he could equally choose Aston Villa for example, over Milan. That said, I can't imagine the Birmingham Fashion show being a patch on Italy's finest. So in the coming days and weeks, we will see how much Beckham values the Indian summer of his England career, if the Galaxy stay strong and refuse to yield, will Beckham write the biggest cheque of his life? He constantly talks about how much his England caps mean to him. We will no doubt find out, in the words of Meatloaf, he would do anything for an England cap,...but will he do that?........

Chelsea's much needed Dutch of class

Guus Hiddink breezed into Cobham this week tasked with the unenviable task of trying to rescue a proud football club from its slide further into the realms of pulp fiction. Hiddink, it is hoped, will re-unify a dressing room rumoured to be ruptured and, in an interesting re-dressing of Chelsea's more lofty prior ambitions, is expected to be keep Chelsea merely "in a position to compete for trophies" .

Perhaps the greatest quality that Hiddink could bring to Chelsea would be to re-connect them with the idea of humility. Since Roman Abramovich's roubles transformed the club overnight, Chelsea have seemingly made more enemies than friends. The meetings with Anders Frisk in the referee's room in Barcelona & Ashley Cole in a Mayfair hotel were symptomatic of the perception that Chelsea were insatiable in their desire to buy, pressure or bully their way to success. However, if ever a man could act as a unifying force, it is Hiddink. The man who brought South Korea together in 2002 and Australia so close to eliminating the eventual world champions in 2006, is a footballing everyman. The respect he has throughout the game has seen him given the licence to combine the Russia and Chelsea jobs, as he did with Australia and PSV prior to Germany.

Whilst Mourinho was arrogant, Grant too stoic and Scolari increasingly paranoid in post-match press conferences, Hiddink could just have the desired blend of personality and footballing style to appease increasing anti-Chelsea anymosity and Abramovich's desire for "sexy" football in equal measure. Indeed, Hiddink is almost Abramovich's last chance. James Lawton, in the Independent, states that Hiddink can re-invent Chelsea into a football club, rather than their increasing appearance as a "rich man's indulgence". Hiddink made the first step today, opening up Stamford Bridge for fans to watch his first training session in charge in a shrewd PR move. Where the last step lands Chelsea will depend on whether Abramovich decides Chelsea need Hiddink beyond May, and what the implications of Hiddink's departure would be for his homeland.