The Spanish newspaper El Mundo is reporting David Beckham and ESPN analyst Alexi Lalas are interested in buying troubled La Liga club Malaga CF. Lalas was the LA Galaxy GM that brought Beckham to the United States. The report says they would purchase about 75 percent of the club. We’ll be generous and give this a 1.5 out of 10 on the probability scale.

Malaga are in a fishy financial situation. The club, most often bouncing between the top two divisions in spain, was bought by Qatari royal Shekih Abduallah Al-Thani in 2010. His massive investment in star players led to a fourth-place finish in Spain last year and qualification for the Champions League this season. The trouble is no one appears to have been paid.

The club owes wage money to players, transfer fees to clubs and taxes to the Spanish government. Considering the clubs owner is worth in the neighborhood of $20 billion. These developments are surprising. Malaga were one of 23 clubs to have their European play revenue withheld by UEFA as they resolved unpaid debts.

We could see David Beckham buying a club. It is not outrageous that Alexi Lalas would be involved. There are worse places to go into semi-retirement than the Mediterranean Coast. That said, Becks is far more likely to avail himself of his option to buy into stable, collectivized MLS at a reduced price. The man doesn’t fritter away money.

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