David Beckham treated LA Galaxy ‘like a s***ty MLS club’ as his rift with teammate Landon Donovan is revealed in his new Netflix documentary after he tried to stay at Italian club AC Milan

David Beckham joined MLS’s LA Galaxy in 2007 on a highly publicized five-year deal worth $32 million, which was originally reported to be worth as much as $250 million.

Decimals aside, the English football legend was paid handsomely to move from Real Madrid, and pressure was mounting for him to produce in LA. But after getting a taste of northern Italy while on loan at AC Milan in 2008, Beckham was reluctant to return to the US for another MLS season. He wanted to stay in Italy, where the prestigious team and competition better suited his illustrious career.

“Even though it’s just a small MLS team that he doesn’t really care about… it meant a lot to me,” his LA Galaxy teammate and former USMNT captain Landon Donovan said in the new Netflix documentary: Beckham.

The final chapter of the four-part docuseries is of particular interest to MLS fans as it provides an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the Beckham-Donovan feud, their resolution and the team’s remarkable turnaround.

“Winning the MLS Cup was probably one of the most rewarding moments of my career,” Beckham told the cameras in Episode 4.

Both Donovan, 41, and Beckham, 48, appear to be on better terms, thanks in large part to their 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup wins.

But three years earlier, Donovan became the first of Beckham’s teammates to actually criticize him publicly. Until then, Beckham was used to private mediation with teammates and coaches, but discovered that things were different in the US.

“Landon felt like I let the team down,” Beckham told Netflix. “I don’t think he handled it the right way. What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. If you have something to say, say it to my face.”

“It was frustrating, really frustrating, because I felt like if we were going to have to deal with all this other stuff, he better show up and play,” Donovan said, referring to the Galaxy’s accommodations for Beckham and the increased media -research. “It’s the least he can do.”

Former team manager Tim Leiweke put it more succinctly.

“No, sorry David,” Leiweke told Netflix about sending Beckham to Milan permanently. “We owned him. We don’t do it. Period of time.’

Beckham enjoyed a second move to Milan in 2009-10, but continued to play for LA in the summers, where he was ripped as a ‘part-time player’.

“They were obviously very angry with me,” Beckham said. “I agree with them by the way, I would feel exactly the same, so I understand, but I wouldn’t assume that from my own fans.”

“We said ‘f*** this s***,’” Leiweke added. “We weren’t a team and this isn’t the circus.”

The issues lingered until Galaxy coach Bruce Arena called both sides together.

“Our coach texts me and David and says, ‘I want to talk to both of you in the morning before practice,’” Donovan explained.

“I said, ‘David, what I said, I believe and felt, it is my truth. “I should never have said that publicly, I should have just said it to you and I’m sorry.”

“If I had been sitting on that side of the table, I would have said ‘f*** you,’” Donovan continued. “I can’t believe you did this to me.” But he said…

The shot then goes back to Beckham.

“I understand and I respect you saying that to me,” the Inter Miami minority owner said.

To illustrate how Donovan felt about the LA Galaxy, Arena relied on an easily recognizable analogy.

“Then our coach said something I’ll never forget to David,” Donovan said. ‘He said, ‘For Landon, this is his Manchester United. You grew up at Man United, for David that’s everything.”

“This is what you care about, I understand that,” Beckham said, referring to Donovan. “I remembered my responsibility to the MLS and my family. I had to make it work.”

Donovan was satisfied with that answer: “I felt it, he was on a mission and I was on a mission.”

“Suddenly we were a team,” Beckham said.

The 2011 season was a dream for Galaxy fans. Donovan scored 12 goals in 23 games, while Beckham scored 13 assists in 26 appearances.

And against Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup final, Donovan scored the only goal of the match after a set-up by Robbie Keane and of course Beckham himself.

“Landon and David put their s*** aside, stopped bitching about each other and started playing,” Leiweke said. ‘Then everything clicked. We were a fucking football club. I loved that team, they were fucking fighters.”

“Winning the MLS Cup was probably one of the most rewarding moments of my career,” Beckham said. “I think I stood there on the field and said, ‘It worked.’

“I obviously didn’t say that.”