MILLIONAIRE Perth Glory owner Tony Sage says it will be one of his greatest personal achievements in the sport if he can pull off a deal to sign superstar David Beckham.
Perth is the clear favourite after Sage confirmed yesterday that the club has "put its hat in the ring" to hire the man regarded as one of the biggest names in world soccer for a 10-game guest stint in the A-League this season.
Sage said Glory, last season's beaten A-League grand finalist, is preparing a bid for Beckham after The Australian revealed on Friday that he was interested in coming to Australia once his commitments with US Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy end next month.
"On a personal level, signing David Beckham would be up there ... the number one thing other than my decision to buy Glory in the first place," Sage said. "It's a huge commitment, but something I would love to pull off."
The prominent West Australian businessman said he had been in contact with leading agent Lou Sticca, who is involved in the deal to sign Beckham. Sticca was also responsible for helping to bring Alessandro Del Piero to Sydney FC and Shinji Ono to Western Sydney.
"We are seriously looking at it," Sage said. "We are getting indications from Lou Sticca and asking him the right questions. He is doing most of the work. We understand Beckham's management is looking at various leagues and the A-League is one of them, but there is genuine interest."
Asked how far he would go to get the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star, Sage said he would do his best.
"It is only 10 games. Our stadium (NIB) is being redeveloped and can only fit 11,000 at this stage," he said. "We have done all the numbers. If we switch four of our home games to (Subiaco) ... we obviously need to get permission from the authorities.
"That is in train (with) the state government and the owners of NIB but given all the troubles we have had I think they would happily accommodate us."
Sage indicated he would expect Football Federation Australia to help out with any deal, "as is the case with the deals for Del Piero and Emile Heskey (Newcastle Jets)". He confirmed he was due to speak to A-League boss Damien de Bohun during Glory's match against Western Sydney yesterday.
"Obviously, FFA has given its blessing to the Beckham situation," Sage said. "Now I have to go out and cover the money (for Beckham). It would be coming out of my pocket and I have to make sure I am not left high and dry."
It appears only four clubs are in the hunt for Beckham - Perth, Melbourne Heart, Western Sydney and Brisbane Roar - after Central Coast chairman Peter Turnbull confirmed yesterday the Mariners were not in the running.
"I think the possibility of David Beckham playing in the A-League is fantastic and I would especially encourage Brisbane, Adelaide or Heart to sign him as we have two home games against those clubs," Turnbull said.
"However, we would find it too disruptive for our squad and Arnie (coach Graham Arnold) and the football club are quite happy with the current position."
Beckham's representatives denied the 37-year-old wanted to play in Australia when news broke on Friday and he backed it up when quizzed at a press conference on Saturday.
"Yeah (Galaxy coach Bruce Arena) told me that this morning," Beckham said. "That's the first I've heard of that, this morning. But no, definitely not true."
However, FFA chief executive David Gallop told Sydney radio yesterday there was no reason for A-League clubs to be disheartened. "It was a similar situation with Del Piero, and we all know that came to be," Gallop said.
"So let's just see how this plays out. It's an exciting proposition - no one would deny that."
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