Preston chairman Derek Shaw has confirmed the club are ready to enter negotiations to sell a share of the club to David Beckham.
The statement was a reaction to comments made by Beckham in this monthâÂÂs FourFourTwo (you just knew we had something to do with it, didnâÂÂt you?) suggesting heâÂÂd be more interested in owning a football team than managing one.
Sadly for Preston, Becks didnâÂÂt specify North End as a target, even if they were the first club he represented as a professional, during a loan spell at Deepdale back in 1995.
Although Beckham could certainly do a lot worse than pumping money into an established Championship club with a solid supporter base and a proud history, without being disrespectful to English footballâÂÂs first mega-club, he may well have his eyes on something slightly more glamorous.
"The sunglasses? ã100 billion a pair, mate."
But the sad fact of the matter is that, as much cash as he has knocking about (ã112 million at our last count), Beckham just canâÂÂt compete with the new breed of Premier League owners, unless he can quickly peddle 100 billion pairs of swish sunglasses or bottles of aftershave.
So the Leytonstone-born maestro may have to set his sights a little lower than former clubs Manchester United or Real Madrid. But who should he target?
Leyton Orient would be a logical choice, being the closest professional club to Becksâ boyhood home. East London is, weâÂÂre told, becoming more and more trendy and with the Olympics coming to town in four years' time, billions of people will already be watching that part of the world, so the timing could be spot on.
The Beckham bunch could move into one of the apartment blocks that fills in the four corners of Brisbane Road, although weâÂÂd all miss Barry Hearn, wouldnâÂÂt we?
Obviously not, but if the boy Beckham really wanted to go back to his roots and make real a difference to a club he could inject some of his hard-earned into Brimsdown Rovers, the East London club he played for as a 14-year-old in 1990.
The Enfield-based club play in the ninth tier of English football, but with a sizable wodge of cash, they could easily rocket up to the Isthmian League or even the Conference South. Although a move to the East End probably wouldnâÂÂt be particularly high on Mrs BeckhamâÂÂs agenda, it is at least commutable from their âÂÂBeckingham Palaceâ HQ.
In fact if David really wanted to impress the missus he could re-name his new club after her. The easiest way to facilitate that change would be to simply buy-out Barry FryâÂÂs stake in Peterborough and con her into thinking the teamâÂÂs âÂÂPoshâ nickname was a tribute to the star of Spice World and⦠errrm⦠that awful documentary.
Might Beckham's mates descend on Kenilworth Road?
The final option is possibly the most outlandish. With Luton still teetering on the edge of footballing oblivion (or the Blue Square Premier, if that's what itâÂÂs called now), Becks could buy out the financially crippled League Two side and merge them with LA Galaxy (can't see any potential logistical problems there...), forming Luton Galaxy and bringing all the glitz and glamour of âÂÂLa la landâ to Bedfordshire.
Move over Nick Owen...
