David Beckham turns 34 next month, but he has reinvented himself to keep pace with younger talent snapping at his heels

It's obvious you joined Milan partly because you missed playing at a high level and partly to give you the best possible chance of being picked for England. But wouldn't it have been easier to stay in Europe in the first place and forget about going to the United States? After all, Milan tried to buy you then?
That's true but the offer from Milan came in too late at the end.

With hindsight would you have made a different decision?
Look, I'd finished my career with Real on a high. I wasn't in the England team. I've always said, because people have asked whether I regret it, that it was right at the time. I've enjoyed two years there, the success off the field. It's not been great on the field because we haven't been successful at all. But I still believe in the game growing there. But it won't take just one or two years. It'll take 10 or 15 years.

What made you decide to go to the United States in the first place? Did you think you were no longer able to play at the top level?
I didn't feel my legs were gone or that I didn't still have it. But confidence-wise, maybe, I was low. I've always been quite a confident person and I've taken it on to a field.

Even when I went back to Milan, I didn't know whether I was going to play a game or whether I'd be able to keep up with the pace of some of the players in the team, but I surprised myself. In that first start against Roma, and then continuing in other games after that. The confidence was back and I started to think I can still play this game at this level.