It appears that English soccer star David Beckham will be staying in the U.S. to continue his career with the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS (Major League Soccer). Beckham said he had been thinking about moving to Europe to play in either England or France since he wants to stay in shape hoping for a recall to the English national team or to be selected for Great Britain’s 2012 Olympic squad.

The 36-year-old former captain of England had been offered a lucrative contract by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) of France, but that club said he turned it down since he doesn’t want to move his family out of America now. Nasser al-Khelaifi, the president of PSG said his team was hoping to sign Beckham and they’re disappointed, but perhaps a deal could be worked out with the midfielder in the future.

Beckham has spent the past five years with the Galaxy with his contract expiring at the end of last season after the team won the MLS Cup. Several European clubs expressed interest in signing him and many experts believed PSG had the inside track. It’s been reported that he’s looking for a new one-year deal with Los Angeles. He was earning a base of $6.5 million a year on his old contract.

French media said PSG and its rich Qatari owners would have paid Beckham about double that amount. However, it seems he and his wife Victoria, a former Spice Girl, like living in California, where they moved to in 2007 after leaving Spain. Insiders believe Victoria doesn’t want to take their four children out of the U.S. at this point.

Beckham still hasn’t officially confirmed anything, but recently said he’s proud of playing for Los Angeles and there’s a good chance it will continue. The team has been strengthened with last season’s signing Robbie Keane, the captain of the Irish national team, and that may sway Beckham’s decision, as might winning his first MLS Cup.

The next MLS season kicks off in March, but Beckham desperately wants to represent his nation in either the Olympics or the European Championships (Euro 2012) in the summer. If he’s selected to one of those team’s he’ll have to work out some type of deal with the Galaxy so they’ll release him for a few weeks in the middle of their season.

It’s unclear how much the Galaxy will be willing to pay Beckham since he seems to be holding all of the cards. Los Angeles knows there are quite a few teams after him and he’s been offered more money to play elsewhere. However, Beckham’s a soccer icon who attracts thousands of fans wherever he plays around the world.

The Galaxy makes a lot of money in appearance fees when they go on tour and Beckham merchandise sells like hotcakes, helping pay a good chunk of his salary. MLS will also be anxious to keep the league’s first superstar in its midst.

Soccer player Dwayne De Rosario has accomplished something in professional sports that we may never see again. The 33-year-old midfielder who plays for D.C. United of Major League Soccer (MLS) was honored by the league as its Most Valuable Player for the just completed 2011 season. However, the kicker is that he played for three different MLS teams this season.

De Rosario, a Canadian, started the season in his homeland with Toronto FC and was then sent to the New York Red Bulls. A few weeks later he was sent packing to D.C. United, where he spent the remainder of the season. It’s a little hard to understand how somebody, no matter how good he is, could earn an MVP award in these circumstances.

De Rosario has long been one of the league’s top players and has deserved to win the award in the past and perhaps voters figured they’d better give it to him this season because it could be his last chance at winning it. He had a fine season statistically with a total of 16 goals as well as 12 assists. He was the only MLS player this season to hit double digits on both of those offensive categories.

De Rosario’s goals and assists weren’t enough to help his teams succeed though since D.C. United and Toronto didn’t make the playoffs. However, he was a pretty popular choice with voters for the award. He received 26.38 per cent of total votes by his fellow players along with 25.91 per cent of media votes. He also garnered 20.43 per cent of votes by club representatives, which were tops in all three voting categories.

Brad Davis, a midfielder with Houston Dynamo came in second place. In addition, since he’s now a member of D. C. United, De Rosario is the first player in league history to earn the MVP award for a team that didn’t make the playoffs. Davis managed to lead the MLS in assists with 16 this season and also led his team to the league’s Cup Final where they were beaten 1-0 by the Los Angeles Galaxy on Nov. 20. However, Davis missed the final game after being injured during the Eastern Conference final.

Forward Chris Wondolowski of the San Jose Earthquakes also managed to bang in 16 goals during the season, but didn’t figure in the voting for MVP. It’s likely that De Rosario impressed the voters with his play over the second half of the season. He played just two games in Toronto this year and scored one goal. He then scored two goals in 13 games with New York. When he got to D.C. United he turned his season around by scoring 13 goals and seven assists in just 18 games.

United fell apart at the end of the year though and finished the season with just one tie and five losses in their last half dozen games. Their overall record with De Rosario was 5-7-6 and they missed the playoffs. They could easily have missed them without the MVP in their lineup too and this is why some fans can’t understand how he was considered so valuable.

For a 36-year-old pro soccer player who’s about to be out of contract, David Beckham sure has a lot on his plate. The gifted midfielder has enjoyed an incredible career up to now, but there’s so much more he wants to achieve. Beckham is currently playing out his five-year deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS and he’s hoping to win a championship trophy with the club this season before it expires.

To do that though, the Galaxy will have to get past Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference Final on Nov. 6 to advance to the MLS Cup. The Galaxy were the top team in the league this season, but unlike most soccer leagues, the MLS has a playoff system to determine the league champions at the end of the regular season.

Beckham hasn’t made up his mind yet what he’s going to do when his MLS season and contract is over, but he doesn’t have much time to make up his mind. French club Paris St Germain is interested in his services as are Queens Park Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur, both London-based English Premier League teams. Also, the Galaxy are hoping he signs one  more year with them.

But even if Beckham decides to stay in LA for another season it’s a good bet that he’ll head over to Europe to play this winter. The main reason for this is because he also wants to play for Great Britain in next summer’s Olympic Games in London and is also hoping to represent England again in the future.

The former England captain will be a sentimental favourite to play in the Olympics and with the European Championships (Euro 2012) taking place next summer as well and the fact the Olympic soccer teams can only name three players over the age of 23 to their squads, he should be invited. Great Britain’s Olympic soccer coach Stuart Pearce said he’s only going to take players who are in shape and in good form and Beckham easily meets those requirements.

He’s been playing some of the best soccer of career this season and doesn’t really show any signs of slowing down. He said it would be a dream come true to play in the Olympics and he’ll be honoured if selected. He added that he feels great, still loves playing, and isn’t planning on retiring anytime soon, but is concentrating on winning the MLS Cup before deciding who to sign his next contract with.

The former captain of England feels he can keep on playing at a high level and will know when it’s time to hang up his boots, but it isn’t yet. In fact, he also wants to play for his country again before his career’s over and is hoping for a recall to the national squad. He last played for England in October 2009 against Belarus. It looked like he was going to earn a spot on England’s World Cup squad for the 2010 tournament in South Africa, but then suffered a torn Achilles heel and had to sit it out.

He’s played 115 times for his country and would like to add to that number since he hasn’t retired from international soccer. He said he’ll never turn his back on his country if selected and believes he’ll suit up for England again before calling it quits. When that time comes, Beckham said he’d consider buying an MLS franchise to help keep the sport growing in the USA.