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Donovan: Beckham is a nice guy

,17/7

Donovan: Beckham is a nice guy

Jul 17, 8:07 am EDT


LOS ANGELES (TICKER) —Los Angeles Galaxy star Landon Donovan says David Beckham is settling in well with his new teammates at the Major League Soccer club.

Many observers predicted Beckham’s $5.5 million basic salary would cause resentment in a dressing room where the rest of the players earned $2.4 million between them.

Yet USA World Cup star Donovan, who is the Galaxy’s next highest earner on $900,000 a year, said the England star has been getting on well after overcoming some first-day nerves.

“He has been really great with us,” Donovan said. “I think he was a little shy the first day coming in but anybody joining a new team would be a little shy and not sure what to expect at first.

“He has warmed up a lot and got more lively the last couple of days. At first, you don’t want to make him feel uncomfortable and you don’t want to say too much. I think he’s done great and we want to get him on the field and training with us. He’s a really great guy. I’ve heard that from people and now I can confirm it.”
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Donovan admitted to being a little unnerved when he watched Beckham’s arrival with wife Victoria and his family at Los Angeles Airport last Thursday night.

“I don’t think anyone could have prepared us for what was to come,” Donovan said. “I was watching SportsCenter at home when they cut to him and Victoria coming out of the airport.

“Just looking at it and the cameras I was astounded. I can’t imagine what the first game will be like when he plays, maybe this weekend or after, but it’s going to be interesting.”

Donovan accepted the extra scrutiny his club would be under now Beckham had joined them but said he and his team-mates were grateful for the opportunity to show a much wider audience what they could do as a team.

“It’s better than the alternative,” he said, before adding that it was up to the rest of the team to share some of the burden on the field with their new star player.

“It’s not basketball where one player can make a massive, massive difference,” Donovan said. “While David is a very good player, we all have to play well to make that work.”

Beckham’s proposed debut against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, meanwhile, is in the balance after he failed to play a full part in his first training session due to an ankle injury picked up while on England duty and aggravated in his final appearance from Real Madrid.

Simon Moyes, one of the UK’s leading arthroscopic surgeons operating out of the Wellington Hospital, believes the injury will be a short-term concern for the midfielder, but does not expect it to be a major blow.

“He almost certainly would have had an MRI scan to try to ensure there was no other damage within the ankle and that he is dealing with solely a lateral ligament injury,” he said.

These injuries normally settle down quite quickly, typically after a six-week period, however they can sometimes take up to 12 weeks.

“We are told his ankle is still painful and swollen and limiting his training,” Moyes said. “He and his team will be hoping that his ankle settles down quickly and watching its progress very closely as MRI scans do not see all the problems that can occur in the ankle joint after such lateral ligament injuries.

“These problems include localised inflammatory lesions, cartilage injuries and bands of scar tissue. If he really does not settle down he may need arthroscopic work on the ankle joint but at this stage I think this is unlikely.”