David Beckham will leave, and that could teach MLS a lesson

It's all about saving face, now, for Major League Soccer.

David Beckham is history. He has said he wants no more of MLS, no more of the Galaxy, no more of Los Angeles. The Beckham circus has moved on and Milan is its latest stop.

Lawyers are negotiating just how the 33-year-old can wriggle out of the five-year contract he signed with MLS in 2007. They will succeed. A deal will be cut. That's the way of the business world.

Then the spin doctors will step in. Here, in all likelihood, is the sort of thing they will say: "We have decided that it is in the best interests of David Beckham to let him join AC Milan and thereby continue pursuing his dream of playing for England in the World Cup in South Africa next year.

"We'd like to thank David for his time here and the excitement and attention he brought to our league. We wish him well."

Forgotten in all this will be the words Beckham himself spoke when he arrived to play for the Galaxy in July 2007.

"Ever since I signed for the Galaxy, people have questioned why I have come to America," he said, "but every move I've made in my career has been about football for me.

"It's also about being an ambassador for the game here and, hopefully, it is going to encourage other players to come to the States and be part of this because soccer in America can become much bigger.

"That's why I'm here. I want to be part of the growth of the game in the States."

So what did he accomplish in 18 months? Thirty games played for the Galaxy. Five goals scored. A lot of squealing female fans. A lot of Galaxy jerseys sold. A few more fans in seats. A bit of media buzz.

Not much more than that. The soccer needle remains about where it was before he stepped off the plane at LAX.

Or does it?

By leaving, Beckham might do more for the sport in the U.S. than he did by arriving.

His departure will focus attention on the shortcomings of MLS and of the Galaxy in particular. If the league wants to be taken seriously on a global level, it has to learn how to play the game off the field as well as on it.

It is no good putting up the shutters, as the Galaxy did this week, and saying "no comment" when stories began pouring out of Europe on an almost daily basis about Beckham's desire to stay in Milan and Milan's desire to keep Beckham.

The Galaxy, and owner AEG, had two options. They could simply and flatly have stated that Beckham was under contract, that the contract would have to be honored and that no offers would be considered.