Barcelona, June 16: Joan Laporta has been elected president of Barcelona and will now try to persuade David Beckham to sign for the Catalan club. Laporta, whose campaign centred around his pledge to sign Beckham if elected, beat off competition from main rival Lluis Bassat and four other contenders. Manchester United confirmed last week that they would be prepared to sell Beckham to Barcelona should Laporta win the elections. Beckham must now decide whether to talk to the Catalan club or pursue a move elsewhere, with Real Madrid understood to be keen to sign the England captain. So far Beckham has shown no interest in meeting Laporta or anyone else from Barca. The head of the SFX group Jon Holmes has also said that Beckham will decide his own future. "United will not decide where David goes", Holmes was quoted as saying in the Sun newspaper. "David will decide what he does."

Laporta won the vote by a landslide, according to provisional results released by the club.

The 40-year-old lawyer, told Barca fans that while he will offer the England captain terms he cannot promise Beckham's signature. He said: "We are waiting to hear from Beckham. We completed the first stage of the transfer by winning this election, now we will speak to Beckham's representatives." "I have never promised to sign David Beckham, I said we reached an agreement with Manchester United."

Madrid are understood to have scheduled a meeting with Beckham's advisers on 23 June to discuss the possibility of the midfielder signing for them. It seems unlikely that Beckham, who arrived back in Britain on Saturday after a holiday in the USA, will remain at United. Long-term presidential candidate favourite Lluis Bassat had a different election mandate, pledging to bring Ajax's Ronald Koeman to the Nou Camp as the new coach and sign several new players for the same money that Beckham would cost.

Bureau Report