English football star David Beckham's future at Real Madrid has become unclear after new reports saying he is still negotiating with the Spanish club about a new contract.
Earlier in the day, Real Madrid sporting director Predrag Mijatovic was quoted by an Italian TV station as saying that "Beckham will leave us. We will not renew his contract."
But later Mijatovic said his remarks had been mistranslated and that he actually said the midfielder's contract had not been renewed, yet. The 31-year-old Beckham's contract runs out in June at the end of the current season.
Beckham's agent, Simon Oliveira, said a two-year contract extension proposal from Real is "still on the table" and that talks will resume in the next two days. The club wants a decision by next week, but the two sides would have to find common ground on a dispute over control of the rights to Beckham's image.
Since January 1, when he became eligible to negotiate with other teams, Beckham has drawn interest from clubs in England, Italy, Spain and the United States.
Beckham has spent a lot of his time on Real's bench since new manager Fabio Capello arrived. He played for Manchester United before moving to Madrid in 2003.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
