Beckham loan signed in 2 weeks: LA Galaxy boss

London:

The Los Angeles Galaxy wants David Beckham's expected loan move to AC Milan to be completed in the next two weeks so that it doesn't distract from the team's bid for the MLS Cup.

Beckham has helped the Galaxy reach the Major League Soccer playoffs for the first time in four years and the November 22 final is in their sights.

But he also wants to join a top European side in January ahead of the World Cup, to help him stay in Fabio Capello's England squad, and is keen to return to Milan after a successful loan spell there earlier this year.

"We want to get it done, for him and for us and I don't want any confusion," Tim Leiweke, chief executive of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Galaxy, said on Thursday. "It's the same with Landon (Donovan), there is a lot of rumors of whether he is staying or going. We're going to clear that up in the next two weeks because we want the team to be focused."

Leiweke wants Beckham to return to the Galaxy after the 2010 World Cup - despite the hostile reception from Galaxy fans when he returned in July after spending the first half of the year at Milan.

"I talk to David a lot and this year a lot more because I wanted to make sure he didn't get down and that it would work out," Leiweke said. "We have a deep appreciation of what he is doing over here with his national team. I wanted him to know that we will support him so we are going to lend him out."

Beckham is 11 appearances away from retired goalkeeper Peter Shilton's record 125 and could match him if England progress to the latter stages of the World Cup, which starts in June.

But with the final not until July 11, Beckham will miss the first three months of the Major League Soccer season.

"We're not going to give him as much time off this time - he's going to have to earn his keep," Leiweke quipped. "He will have a little time off. I admire what he is doing with the caps. It's historical and legendary.

"We're honored to have a player of his magnitude playing at the World Cup. We're going to have four or five of them from the Galaxy at the World Cup and that is real progress for the league and team."