David Beckham joined Paris St Germain on a five-month deal on this day in 2013 and announced he would donate his entire salary to a local children’s charity.
The former England captain joined the Ligue 1 leaders as a free agent after his five-and-a-half-year spell at Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy ended in December.
While Beckham’s wage was unknown, the total of his charitable donation was believed to be in the region of £2million.
“That’s one of the things we are very excited about and proud to do,” Beckham said. “It’s something exciting and something I’m not sure has been done before.”
The former Manchester United, AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder explained how PSG boss Carlo Ancelotti and sporting director Leandro had persuaded him to join the wealthy French giants.
Beckham knows both men from time he spent on loan at AC Milan.
“I’m very lucky. I’m 37 years old and I got a lot of offers – more now than I’ve probably had in my career. I’m very honoured by that,” Beckham said.
“I chose Paris because I can see what the club are trying to do. I can see who the club are trying to bring in. It’s an exciting city and now there’s a club that’s going to have a lot of success over the next 10, 20, 30 years.”
Beckham failed to score in any of his 12 appearances in all competitions for PSG and was shown a straight red card for a foul on Youssef Adnane just six minutes after coming on as a substitute against Evian.
PSG sealed the Ligue 1 title on May 12 and, four days later, Beckham announced he would retire from professional football at the end of the season.