SOCCER:David Beckham is set to become the second highest-paid sportsman in the US after signing a five-year contract worth up to $250 million with Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy. Paul Kelsoreports.

The former England captain ended months of speculation yesterday by announcing that his largely unhappy, three-year spell at Real Madrid will end in the summer, a move that signals the end of Beckham's career in top-flight football and any lingering ambition to regain the England place he lost when Steve McClaren replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson as head coach of the national side last summer.

The blow will be softened, however, by a weekly income of €750,000, comprised of salary, image rights and associated sponsorship, and the challenge of establishing the Beckham brand in a country that has thus far been largely unmoved by the rest of the world's favourite game.

Beckham turned down offers from leading clubs in Britain and Italy as well as a new two-year contract with Madrid to move to the US, but claimed last night that he was not motivated by money.

"I don't want to go out to America at 34 years old and people be turning round saying, 'Well he's only going there to get the money'," he said. "I've enjoyed my time in Spain, it's been an incredible experience for me and the family. But I think another challenge has come up and I think it's the right time for us to do it. Soccer is huge all around the world except in America and that's where I want to make a difference."

Beckham's move is co-funded by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which owns LA Galaxy and the Millennium Dome in London and has a stake in Beckham's soccer academies in Britain and the US, and Major League Soccer, which will use the Englishman's presence to promote the game in the US. It will also be popular with several of his sponsors, including Gillette and Pepsi, American companies.

Intriguingly, Beckham's debut for LA Galaxy could come against current English champions Chelsea, who considered signing him last summer. The London club have a commercial agreement with AEG and are likely to meet one of their clubs on a pre-season tour this summer. It is a game that will attract huge attention and provide the first return on LA Galaxy's huge investment in Beckham.

Beckham's decision marks the culmination of a strategy aimed at preserving his brand long after the footballer has faded. For all his considerable skills, his celebrity has long outstripped his talent, and the move signals the end of his career as a footballer of significance. Six months after resigning the England captaincy with a tear in his eye, the most famous footballer of his generation is walking away from the highest level of the game aged just 31.

For Brand Beckham, the network of deals and sponsorships eagerly acquired by the player and his advisors in the last decade, the move to California signals the start of a hugely lucrative new era.

The deal will make Beckham the second highest-paid sportsman in the US, a remarkable statistic given he will ply his trade in a minority sport associated with "soccer moms" and primarily practised by teenage girls.

The bulk of his income will come from image rights as his features are used as a commercial battering ram intended to turn the US on to "soccer".

Timothy J Leiweke, president and CEO of AEG, made no bones about his intentions. "David is truly the only individual that can build the bridge between soccer in America and the rest of the world," he said.

The deal, Leiweke added, would result in "numerous new and profitable ventures".

Having set their eyes on attracting Beckham, AEG set about removing the only barrier to his arrival, a salary cap intended to keep the MLS competitive. Each franchise is now permitted to waive salary restrictions for a single player, and Beckham is the first to profit from the change, though yesterday he intimated that his aims were more altruistic.

"Soccer in America is the biggest-played sport up to a certain age," he said. "That's where I want to take it, to another level. I think potentially it can go higher in America than anyone can believe."