David Beckham joins Paris-Saint Germain, will donate salary to charity

But the move fell through and PSG moved on to other targets, capturing striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, his AC Milan teammate Thiago Silva, Napoli winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and Brazilian prodigy Lucas.

"I felt last year that I still had something to achieve in Los Angeles. I won the championship in the last year of my contract and yes, we spoke to Leo a number of times but I think we both came to the thought that it wasn't the right time,'' Beckham said. "So we parked it and decided that right now is the right time because I was at the end of my contract last year. I accepted one more year in Los Angeles, I won another championship, another trophy in Los Angeles and I believe it was the right time to leave.''

Early Thursday, the move was finally done. And shortly before noon, the much-traveled Beckham made the short flight to Paris.

"This literally all happened at 1 a.m. this morning and was finalized when I got on the plane at 11 a.m.,'' Beckham said. "Right now, I have a few things to sort out with my children and the schooling and a few other things. I have been training at Arsenal. My fitness won't take long to get up to speed. I definitely won't be fit for next Friday. A few weeks and I'll be up to speed.''

While he was on the flight, Beckham agreed on a novel way of putting his big salary to good use.

"We decided on something that is quite unique _ I won't receive any salary. We have decided that my salary will go towards a local children's charity in Paris. And that's one of things we are very excited and proud to be able to do,'' he said. "It's something I'm not sure has been done before, and it's something I'm very passionate about, children and the charity side of things, and so are the club. We came together and it's something special.''

... contd.

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