6 Feb 2014

Beckham brings MLS club to Miami

11:32 am on 6 February 2014

It's now official that David Beckham is buying a Major League Soccer team and taking it to Miami.

The former England and Manchester United star says he already has major players in the game phoning him up, pledging to create a "global team" like the European clubs where he made his name.

Beckham says he wants to create a team from scratch, explaining his decision to bring the expanding league's 22nd football club to Miami, where there was a team 10 years ago.

One of Beckham's partners in the venture will be the British pop music and television impresario Simon Fuller, who managed Beckham's wife Victoria when she sang with the Spice Girls.

Beckham, who reportedly paid a cut-price $US25 million for the franchise, says his wife and family will join him in Miami.

The club's name and start date is not yet known, however the BBC reports it will be up and running in 2016.

And a final deal to grant the franchise to Beckham's investment group could be several months away, with a stadium location and financing still requiring approval from the MLS board.

LeBron James, a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player who stars for the champion Miami Heat, could soon be joining Beckham in the ambitious venture.

Beckham says James is a friend and it'd be amazing if he joins the ownership group because he's much loved not just in Miami but in sports in general.

James has made no secret of his interest in Beckham's project to bring football back to Miami, telling reporters in November that he and the former LA Galaxy midfielder were in talks.

The basketball star is already a minority investor in Premier League giants Liverpool.