EXTRA TIME
David Beckham only represented six clubs over the course of his distinguished career, but he did turn out for some of the biggest sides on the planet.
Towards the end of his career, the former England captain helped to raise the profile of Major League Soccer and make Los Angeles Galaxy a domestic force to be reckoned with in the United States.
During his time on their books, he also took in loan stints at Italian giants AC Milan and Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain.
It is, however, for two spells prior to heading across the Atlantic that Beckham is best remembered.
A Manchester United fan as a boy, the iconic midfielder graduated through the Red Devils’ youth system to become a superstar from their famed Class of ‘92.
Eleven years were spent as a senior performer at Old Trafford, with countless major honours claimed and international recognition secured.
In 2003, he then headed to Real Madrid, where he would spend a further four years.
His hard work and creative ability was embraced in the Spanish capital, but Los Blancos supporters may be disappointed to discover that Beckham had a soft spot for their fiercest rivals during his younger years.
The image above was taken 24 years ago, just as Beckham and fellow academy hopefuls Gary Neville, Chris Casper and Ben Thornley were making the breakthrough at United.
It was around that time that Barcelona were playing some of the finest football in their history under the guidance of the legendary Johan Cruyff.
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A side that included the likes of Ronald Koeman, Pep Guardiola and Hristo Stoichkov lifted two domestic titles while donning the jersey Beckham can be seen in, having previously been crowned European Cup winners.
Real Madrid, in contrast, endured something of a barren spell during the early 1990s.
Beckham, then, can be forgiven for nailing his colours to the Camp Nou mast long before ambitions of gracing a La Liga stage of his own entered his thoughts.