A dazzling triangle could fit Beckham's velvet foot into Real's golden team

You can see how Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid president, would see David Beckham as a perfect fit for a commercial strategy designed to wrest global domination from Manchester United. Especially in the succulent markets of Japan and China, where coincidentally Real Madrid will be embarking this summer on a pre-season tour.

But a couple of questions would remain. In strict footballing terms, how would you accommodate Beckham into Real's team of galacticos, as the Spanish media call them? And how would the fans, for whom celebrity players are hardly a novelty these days, respond to his arrival?

The answers are better than one might think, and very well indeed. Let's address the football question first. Much has been made of the comparison between Beckham and Luis Figo, the supposition being that in the event of Beckham going to Real he would challenge Portugal's best player since Eusebio for that right-wing midfield slot.

On the evidence not just of the two recent games between the two sides, but on a thorough examination of the talents the two players bring to the mix, it is pretty clear that Figo is the more accomplished player. He is very strong on both feet and he can take players on and beat them, through a combination of guile and pace, that few in the world can match. He also has an excellent first touch, is a great crosser of the ball and scores goals – quite a few of them from free-kicks.

So why on earth, goes the question uttered by not a few Spanish commentators in recent weeks, would the Real coach, Vicente del Bosque, see the need to sign Beckham? A couple of reasons. One, that Figo is three years older than Beckham and, while not yet on a downward Roy Keane curve, is not the force that he was – match in, match out – two or three years ago.

Beckham, being a player who depends less on pace than on stamina than Figo, may well keep playing at his best for the next six or seven years. So, apart from anything else, and adding the fact that he is not injury-prone, the England captain is a good investment.

But as to whether he would fit into a team with Figo in it, yes. There is a way that he could. The weakest link in the Real team this season has been right centre-midfield. The position occupied at the start of the season to dazzling effect by the Argentinian Esteban Cambiasso, until he inexplicably – and very rapidly – faded from view. Flavio Conceiçao, the Brazilian bought for far too much money from Deportivo four years ago, took over, but never very convincingly and he too was dropped for the quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

So Real have a problem there. They do not have a problem in the next position along, on the left centre of midfield, where Claude Makelele is outstanding. A one-man defensive rampart, a combine-harvester of a player, whose distribution is consistently clean, Makelele combines to often brilliant effect in a golden triangle with Roberto Carlos and Zidane.

Beckham could forge an equally dazzling triangle on the right with Figo and the right-back Michel Salgado – both of whom, it just so happens, are the only two guaranteed starters in the Real side who speak good English. He could alternate out on the wing with Figo, who like Beckham enjoys cutting inside and, unlike Beckham, frequently wanders over to join the fun on the left side of the pitch.

Another point in Beckham's favour is that, with the possible exception of the ageing Hierro, there is no one in the Real team who is in the habit of dispatching pin-point 50-yard passes. He would add yet another dimension to Real's mighty repertoire and, with his impressive vision, could provide Ronaldo with the kind of balls through the middle that are the Brazilian goalscorer's meat and drink.

As for the reaction of the Real fans to Beckham's possible arrival, they would be thrilled. At the Bernabeu what they most crave is art and glamour. Beckham combines the two delightfully, in the view of most Spanish football aficionados.

Which is not to say that they have failed to notice how completely Roberto Carlos has neutralised him in the last year, for both Brazil and Real. Or that they harbour any notion that he is the best player in the world. They have a measured appreciation of his limitations, as well as of his talents.

They know, as the Spanish press never tires of reminding them, that he has "a velvet right foot". That few players, if any, strike the ball more beautifully than he does. And they like the idea of watching that boot come into contact with a ball on a regular basis at the Bernabeu.

Beckham would be regarded as an adornment at Real Madrid, an embellishment of the riches already on display. And there are not an awful lot of players in the world of whom you could say that. These days, in fact, practically none.