Super-glued sliders and 70-yard screamers: the highs and lows of David Beckham’s MLS legacy

The LA Galaxy players who suddenly became team-mates of world's most recognizable athlete remember a regular dude' who helped a fledgling league to then-unthinkable heights

In the midst of his prime, still the world's most recognizable athlete and on course to be a free agent in six months' time, David Beckham had the football world at his feet on 11 January 2007. That's why the news that broke that day - that the former Manchester United superstar was to leave Real Madrid at the end of the current La Liga season to join LA Galaxy in MLS - was so stunning.

I'm coming there not to be a superstar," the 31-year-old said in a press conference to formally announce the move the following day. I'm coming there to be part of the team, to work hard and to hopefully win things.