David Beckham Cracks Joke at Sir Alex Ferguson's Expense Amid MLS Franchise Talk

David Beckham joked on Wednesday that he won’t be asking old boss Sir Alex Ferguson to take charge of his new team, as plans to bid for an MLS franchise were revealed.

The former England captain is reportedly interested in Miami as a location for his new venture—per Laura Williamson in the Daily Mail.

Speaking at a global book signing on Wednesday—per Williamson—Beckham said:

"

It’s funny, he (Sir Alex) was one of the first names I was going to call up to be manager. I’m not so sure now. All joking aside, I wouldn’t want to be negative about Sir Alex. He gave me the chance to live my dream.

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Ferguson ruffled many feathers when his explosive new book My Autobiography was released on Oct. 22. The Scot even went as far as dedicating a whole chapter to Beckham.

While the 71-year-old was at times full of praise for his former No. 7, he also claimed Beckham had “squandered” his talents in favour of fame.

Per Owen Gibson in the Guardian, Ferguson wrote:

"

He fell in love with Victoria and that changed everything. I am a football man. If he had asked my advice when he left Real Madrid for LA Galaxy I would have told him exactly what I thought.

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The recently retired Ferguson also wrote that Beckham had started to think “he was bigger than Alex Ferguson” before he was sold to Real Madrid.

While many have lined up to take swipes at Ferguson since the book release, Beckham chose to follow Owen Hargreaves’ lead as he took the morale high ground.

Beckham has refused to say a bad word about Ferguson since he left Old Trafford in 2003. Upon the Scot's retirement at the end of last season, after he led Manchester United to a 20th title in the top flight of English football, Beckham paid tribute to the man he called “a father figure”—per BBC Sport.

His continued support of his old boss and refusal to be drawn into a war of words is yet another example of Beckham’s class.  

As Ferguson admitted himself—per Gibson:

"

How can you argue with how he has turned out. He's a marvellous boy. He worked to get to the point where he became a great player.

"

While Ferguson's book has shifted plenty of focus on past players and events, Beckham's comments show he has his sights set forward on his MLS endeavors.