Beckham and Alex Ferguson were both on holiday, but their different approaches to time off gave a clue to the rift which triggered Beckham's departure to Real Madrid.

Ferguson was keeping a low profile in France while Beckham was again splattered over the world's media. Along with his pop star wife Victoria, he travelled to the United States to appear at the MTV Movie awards.

When United announced last week they had agreed a conditional deal to sell Beckham to Barcelona, Beckham's agents issued a statement saying he was surprised and disappointed.

Ferguson said nothing but his silence spoke volumes.

For a man who defends his players to the hilt and speaks his mind like no one else in British soccer, the clear message was that the England captain was no longer part of his plans.

Ferguson had become increasingly annoyed at Beckham's celebrity lifestyle and treated the England captain to a spell on the substitutes' bench last season.

The two men, with several fall-outs in the past, clashed in February during the infamous flying boot affair.

FLYING BOOT

A furious Ferguson sent a loose boot flying across the dressing room after the team's FA Cup defeat by Arsenal and it landed in the face of the highest-profile player in the country.

Beckham emerged stitched up and angry while his manager sheepishly wrote the incident off as a freak accident.

Two months later, with Arsenal again the opposition, Ferguson left Beckham on the bench for the 2-2 draw that had a major impact on the destination of the premier league title.

Two weeks after that Beckham was overlooked again for the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid, as Ferguson inexplicably chose to recall an unfit Juan Sebastian Veron instead.

Beckham came on as a substitute, scoring twice in the memorable 4-3 victory, which was still not enough to prevent United's exit on aggregate.

The title won, Ferguson was busy planning improvements and cast his net in the direction of Brazil midfielder Ronaldinho.

By the first week of June Beckham was forced to announce "as long as United want me I will stay" but Ferguson failed to deliver the required assurance.

The game was up, and it was then just a question of where he would go and for how much.

PROMOTIONAL TOUR

On Tuesday, as Beckham set off on another promotional tour, this time to Asia, it was confirmed he had agreed to join Real Madrid.

Suddenly all the bad blood was forgotten.

"I would like to publicly thank Sir Alex Ferguson for making me the player I am today," Beckham said in a statement.

Ferguson, at last, went public: "I've known David since he was 11 years of age, and it's been a pleasure to see him grow and develop into the player he has become.

"David has been an integral part of all the successes that Manchester United have achieved in the last decade.

"I would like to wish him and his family every success in the future, and thank him for his service to the club," he said on the club's website.