BARCELONA - Faced with spending the second half of the season as he has largely done the first - on the bench - Real Madrid's David Beckham may opt to play in Italy, Spanish media cited an agent as saying yesterday.

BARCELONA - Faced with spending the second half of the season as he has largely done the first - on the bench - Real Madrid's David Beckham may opt to play in Italy, Spanish media cited an agent as saying yesterday.

Former England star Beckham has still not thrashed out a long drawn out extension to his Real contract, which runs out in June, amid rumours he may opt to play out the remainder of his career in Major League Soccer in the United States.

With Real coach Fabio Capello restricting him to occasional substitute appearances in the league and in Europe - Beckham played the second half of Sunday's narrow win over Athletic Bilbao which took his club second in the table behind Barcelona - staying put looks an ever less attractive option.

According to Sport, a move to Serie A would keep Beckham in the European limelight. - Sapa-AFP