Roy Keane was utterly perplexed by David Beckham’s extravagant spending during their time at Manchester United, but one purchase stood out as particularly bewildering to him.
Beckham was known for his lavish expenditures once he gained fame at Old Trafford, with some former teammates claiming that he would receive his paycheck on a Friday and have blown it all by Saturday.
In a new Netflix documentary about his life, Beckham confessed, “I spent my money. I liked nice stuff. As soon as we got money, I wanted to buy a nice watch.”
“I signed a contract with Adidas for £50,000 – and I went and bought an M3 for £50,000.”
However, not all of his money went towards glitz and glamour – at least, according to his former midfield partner Keane, who was astounded when Beckham splurged on an extravagant pen.
When asked about Beckham’s spending habits, Keane commented, “He was the first to do it. He certainly upped everyone’s game in the car park, I’ll give him that.”
“He bought a fancy pen. I was like ‘who the f*** buys a pen? Who buys an expensive pen?’ Shirts and clothes and all that I get, but who buys a pen?”
Beckham’s first endorsement deal was with Brylcreem hair gel, which capitalized on the popularity of his ever-changing hairstyles. As more endorsement contracts poured in, so did the extensive list of possessions Beckham owned.
Phil Neville revealed, “David used to get his salary on a Friday, spend it all by Saturday and then spend the next five days waiting for the next salary to get the jeans to match. That is what he was like. Have money, spend it. Have money, spend it. Have money, spend it.”
“Me and Gary (Neville) were like ‘let’s save it for a rainy day’. We used to put money into a pension and David was like ‘what are f*** are you doing?!’”
As Beckham became a brand unto himself and a bona fide celebrity, it became increasingly challenging for Manchester United’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, to keep him grounded.
Ferguson remarked in the Netflix documentary, “He changed,”
“There is no doubt about that. That sort of media attention he was getting, becoming a celebrity, was different to what I wanted.”
“Getting David to keep his feet on the ground became more different. He was a good looking boy and he was well cut, so it was a great attraction for the media.”
Manchester United performance and stats
Manchester United is currently 10th in the Premier League with 12 points.
In the last 8 games, it has won 4 times and lost 4 times. In its last match, Manchester United won 2-1 against Brentford.
It has a negative goal difference after scoring 9 goals and conceding 12.
Manchester United will play the next match in Premier League against Sheffield United on Sunday 22nd of October in Sheffield.