But he landed, oh so fortuitously, in the soft and welcome embrace of a footballing La La Land.

David Bowie's character in the film of that name arrived to save his dying planet. In Beckham's case his descent to another Galaxy, in both senses of the word, is to provide succour to a dying career.

And, by doing so, pursue that great British dream, one which can be traced back to that early pioneer Phil Woosnam's endeavours in the '60s and '70s, to penetrate an obdurate American psyche.

One which essentially says soccer is safe and fun for kids and women. But no way is it a proper sport. Even hosting a World Cup or reaching the quarter-finals in 2002 couldn't enhance its appeal.

True, there have been excited giggles from anchors in American TV studios. But as one American newspaper commentator put it succinctly: "His job here is not to win, but to give his sport one last chance to work in the biggest place where it doesn't.

His success will be defined not by corner kicks but by converts."

On Friday, the concept of big bucks and celebrity - possibly as much the effect of wife Victoria - ensured the schedulers of the coast-tocoast TV show Good Morning America gave the story prominence. Whether Beckham can sustain that interest is a different matter entirely.

In the summer, he embarks on a soccer star trek, his mission to boldly go, where so many have failed, to impart the wisdom that soccer is the world's most complete, most enthralling sport. In doing so, he has eschewed a future at Bolton. And Tottenham. And Newcastle. And West Ham.

And all the other clubs who coveted him - except, most crucially, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, the only ones he may just have considered as he contemplated life as a failed Galactico.Can you honestly imagine him scrapping for Uefa Cup qualification, or worse, against relegation? Did anyone seriously believe he would accept such a pronounced career decline? Instead he has issued a mission statement that, effectively, he planned to influence the sports-going habits of the world's most powerful country.

Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop, last seen booting a clearance at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road, where he was on loan from Ipswich a decade or so ago, claims Beckham "wants to help the game grow in this country".

But we're not talking about sweetcorn. Football runs counter to US sporting culture, one which demands big scores, no draws and timeouts. NFL games are occasions for the family to bond, and luxuriate, in a protracted series of plays. They love their stats. TV replays. All the peripheral matter that goes with it.

The contrast with a compressed 90 minutes of frenetic activity, in which pom-pom girls are greeted usually with disdain, could not be more pronounced. Soccer in the US is big amongst kids - mostly middle-class kids - Latin American migrants and European expats.

Inevitably, there is scepticism on both sides of the pond.

There will be those who contend LA - or more specifically Hollywood - was a choice with much more behind it than football. The ubiquitous Max Clifford reflected that Beckham is in the right place to pursue an acting career "as long as it's not a speaking role".

He may scoff, and so will many here at the prospect of Posh and Becks enchanting their hosts-to-be; yet, in a land of the smooth-talking persuasive salesmen, it could be a refreshing change that this guy is not blessed with perfect English. He's a Regular Joe, who has succeeded through dint of his own talents and labours.

There is still a fundamental misunderstanding of the Beckham phenomenon. "A true genius ruined by his greed" read one headline on Friday. He was never a genius; only to those who mistook celebrity for greatness.

He was, within his wellchronicled limitations, a fine performer, blessed with a sweet right foot which he employed, often with destructive force. He was also a man who'd rarely stand and admire those seams of excellence. He was always prepared to dirty his hands. As for his supposed avarice, well, it's about as cheap an insult as you can buy. In America, making bucks tends to be regarded as an admirable trait.

They say Beckham will earn $250 million over five years. The sum has been flung into the mix to allow this week's development to flex its marketing legs even more than it might have done. Even if the basic is only, say, a fifth of that, it's still mega-bucks, in anyone's judgement.

There can be little doubt that, though he would have headed west eventually, his move has been hastened, as Arsene Wenger suggests, not so much by an unsatisfactory season, the culmination of an unsuccessful four years at the Bernabeu, but his rejection from Steve McClaren's new era with England.

The Home Depot Center Stadium, with its 27,000 capacity, will be a strange location for his footballing bow. But it's just conceivable that this fabulously-paid Piper can perform his work successfully in the Hamelin of football. Certainly, he will be determined to prove that this is more than California daydreaming from the Leytonstone boy.