AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has urged his board to do all they can to sign LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham. MLS bosses have handed Milan a Friday deadline to make the deal happen and Ancelotti said: "To keep Beckham, in my opinion, you can make sacrifices because he is an important player for the team."

Ancelotti concedes he initially wanted to leave Beckham off his UEFA Cup squad list.

He explained: "This is true, but I will explain. David has a contract that expires on March 9 and so making it became problematic for two matches. In the end the club and I decided to list him because the challenge with Werder is important and a victory will take us closer to winning the Uefa Cup."