Leicester to offer David Beckham player-coach role

Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson hopes to bring David Beckham to Leicester in a player-coach role.

The 36-year-old's contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy ends later this year and, with a place in Great Britain's Olympic squad up for grabs, he has been heavily linked with a move back to England.

QPR and Tottenham, with whom he trained last winter, have been touted as possible destinations, but Leicester boss Eriksson is hoping to link up once again with the man who captained England during his tenure as manager.

Eriksson told The Times: "I have already had that discussion with him. I spoke to him about Leicester.

"Beckham, he will never say no to me - he says, 'Sven, we'll see, we'll see'.

"The big thing is what he wants to do when his contract finishes in LA. Will he want to go on playing?"

Eriksson knows the npower Championship side, who have received substantial investment from their Thai owners, will face stiff competition from other clubs in England, while Paris St Germain are also reported to be interested. However, the Swede hopes the added incentive of a training role will help tip the balance.

"We will give him a whistle and he can go out (on the training pitch) straight away," he said.

Eriksson was the first overseas manager to take charge of England, paving the way for current boss Fabio Capello.

With the Italian's reign to end this summer, the Football Association are expected to turn to an Englishman this time around.

Eriksson, though, thinks Arsenal's French boss, Arsene Wenger, is a realistic candidate.

"I don't know what (the FA) are going to do, who they will take," he said.

"Reporters talk about (Harry) Redknapp as the people's choice and I'm quite sure if they could get Wenger, they would take him.

"If you consider him foreign (after 15 years in England), I don't know."

He continued: "Arsene Wenger can adapt to everything. He lives for football.

"You see how much it matters to him every game, but you also see when it's a European Championship or a World Cup, he is working on it, for French television, so he doesn't miss anything. That's his holiday.

"I'm sure he can do that (job), but it's just a name."

PA