Beckham insists he is staying at Old Trafford

Real Madrid have denied it, Manchester United have said they hoped it would not happen and yesterday the man at the centre of the season's most intense transfer story confirmed there had been no contact with the European champions.

A few hours after it was revealed that he was the highest-paid player in the world, earning £10.6m a year, David Beckham voiced his commitment to the club which has held him in thrall since boyhood. "There's been a lot of stuff in the media about me and my future, but I can honestly say there has been no contact between either me or my adviser and Real Madrid or any other club," he said yesterday.

"I know Peter Kenyon [United's chief executive] and the manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, are saying they want me to stay and that's good enough for me. My affection for the club has never changed from the day I signed with United."

It was his emotional reaction to the end of the last home game at Old Trafford which caused some observers to think Beckham knew his time at a club where he had won six championships was up. He appeared to be on the verge of tears. Yesterday he was fulsome in his praise for the manner in which what seemed an unassailable Arsenal lead was overhauled.

"The whole team is buzzing. I think we are still on a high because the scale of our achievement is only now sinking in. People had written us off at Christmas and that makes our success even sweeter this time. For all of us it has been a very tough battle because we have been so focused on our aim to win the league by winning every game. It has been an amazing season for the club and I have never known the team spirit to be as good as it is today."

That dressing-room is likely to be strengthened by the arrival of arguably the most exciting young talent in German football. It is too early yet to dub Markus Neumayr 'the German Wayne Rooney', but the 17-year-old playmaker seems certain to join United from Eintracht Frankfurt this summer.

Neumayr was invited to Manchester for a trial in October when he was reportedly "blown away" by the club's set-up. The Germany Under-17 coach, Bernd Stöber, commented that Neumayr's "technical abilities, grasp of the game, and intelligence on the pitch are remarkable". Although he is committed to Frankfurt for the next three years, the German Second Division side will not block the move because of the substantial compensation they are likely to receive. Eintracht's vice-president, Klaus Lötzbeier, said: "It's not a done deal yet but a contract will be signed once English law allows. We hate to lose such a big talent but, of course, we shouldn't stand in his way."

United were yesterday told they would receive the Premiership trophy at Goodison Park on Sunday, once Everton had finished their own celebrations of a season which has given them a top-seven finish for only the second time in 13 years.

Fearing that the presentation of the Premiership trophy might interfere with this, Everton had suggested that United receive the trophy in their dressing room, although, following yesterday's meeting with the Premier League, they agreed it could be held on the pitch.

Even while the fine details of this season were being wrapped up, two United players were planning for the next campaign. Ruud van Nistelrooy declared he would see out the rest of his career at Old Trafford, something few United players manage, and stated his ambition was to score 150 goals for the club ­ which at the Dutchman's current rate of progress should take him just under two seasons to achieve.

John O'Shea, who was perhaps more deserving of the young player of the year award than either Rooney or Jermaine Jenas, said he hoped that next season he would find a settled position in United's line-up. In this campaign he has been used as either a full or centre-back ­ and even as good a judge as Ferguson admits to not knowing where the Irishman is most effective.