'I had to tell David Beckham he was leaving Man Utd – his reaction said it all'

'I had to tell David Beckham he was leaving Man Utd – his reaction said it all'David Beckham's transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid was one of the highest-profile moves involving any England playerCommentsSportTom Victor Senior Sports Journalist10:00, 19 Apr 2026View 2 ImagesDavid Beckham's Manchester United exit was confirmed in 2003(Image: Getty Images)When former Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon told David Beckham he was on the way out, the player's reaction said it all. Beckham ended up joining Real Madrid after a much-publicised falling-out with Sir Alex Ferguson, but - as Kenyon recalls - the player still didn't want to leave Old Trafford.‌Beckham had spent his entire career with United, playing just shy of 400 matches and establishing himself as captain of the England national team during that time. The souring of his relationship with Ferguson made an exit inevitable in the club's eyes, but that didn't make it any easier for the player to take.‌“David did not want to play for anyone else but Manchester United, genuinely," Kenyon told High Performance. "He loved the club, it had been part of his life, it was everything… so to get David to move was not about moving for more money - he didn’t want to go.‌“It was basically confronting David with: ‘You’re not going to play for Manchester United again, that’s the reality’. And that was a decision that was taken fundamentally by Alex, supported by the board completely. That was one of the ways United worked best, because once the decision had been taken, it was a joint decision that just then got executed."FOLLOW OUR MAN UTD FB PAGE! Latest United news and more on our dedicated Facebook pageREAD MORE: ‘I was 48 hours from joining Man Utd – but one phone call changed everything’READ MORE: 'I was unfairly treated at Man Utd - I had no choice but to refuse a new deal'Kenyon also reflected on the call in which he made it clear to B...