Midfielder not fit enough to make Ligue 1 debut yet.
David Beckham’s debut for Paris-Saint Germain will not happen against Sochaux on Sunday after being put back a week due to a lack of match fitness.
Beckham was initially thought to be in the frame to make his first appearance for Carlo Ancelotti’s side at Sochaux, where the demand for media access had been oversubscribed in anticipation, but he has not travelled with the rest of the squad for the Ligue 1 game.
Ancelotti insists that Beckham, who only undertook his first training session with his new team-mates on Wednesday having training privately with coach Paul Clement in London for the previous seven days, is not ready to appear yet.
He is now likely to make his debut in the dark blue of PSG at the Parc des Princes when Marseille visit next Sunday – most likely from the bench as he acclimatisers to life in Ligue 1 following his free transfer move from Los Angeles Galaxy in January.
“No, he’ll be staying here to work,” was Ancelotti’s response when asked about when Beckham would appear against Sochaux. “He needs more training but he’ll be ready next week for the game at home to Marseille. Not necessarily to start, but to play.”
Beckham is giving his entire salary to Paris charities and is only contract to be at PSG until the end of the season, but Ancelotti expects the 37-year-old midfielder to make an impact as he searches for a domestic title in four different countries. PSG are six points clear of Lyon at the top of the table.
“He can bring his experience, his quality, his professionalism, these are things that we need,” Ancelotti added on Sky Sports.