AC Milan's pursuit of Manchester United midfielder David Beckham has cooled amid bidding wars and concerns over conflicts of interest with the player's sponsors, Italian newspapers reported yesterday.

　　"To see him at Milan is impossible. It takes a lot of money, too much money," Milan daily Corriere della Sera quoted club vice president Adriano Galliani as saying.

　　Corriere reported that Milan was unable to match bids of US.8 million, made by Manchester United, and US.6 million by Barcelona.

　　Phone calls to Milan's offices went unanswered yesterday, which was a national holiday in Italy.

　　Galliani has day-to-day control of the club, which is owned by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

　　On Friday, Gazzetta Dello Sport, Italy's largest sports daily, reported that Milan had reached a preliminary agreement to buy Beckham.

　　It said that team officials were counting on the city's status as Italy's fashion capital to lure fashion-icon Beckham and his wife, Victoria, a former Spice Girl.

　　In yesterday's Gazzetta, Galliani was quoted as citing conflicts of interest between team sponsors and Beckham's personal sponsors as potential deal-breakers.

　　"Everyone wants to know about Beckham and I must say that Beckham interests me a lot. But there is a problem that today could make me say that David could not come to Milan: His personal sponsor, Vodafone, conflicts with our team sponsor, TIM," Gazzetta quoted Galliani as saying.

　　Telecom Italia Mobile, the mobile unit of Italy's former telecommuni-cations monopoly, competes directly with Vodafone. Beckham's contract with Vodafone expires in two years.

　　The Manchester United midfielder was on Sunday linked with a move to Spanish club Barcelona.

　　The Sunday Express said Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta would bid for Beckham if he won the June 15 club elections.

　　"I view this as a great price for Beckham," Laporta was quoted as saying. "He is one of the few players in the world capable of earning that back for you in commercial revenue alone."

　　Beckham has also been linked to Real Madrid. Both he and Manchester United insist he's staying in England next season.

　　The England captain meanwhile made a televised appeal for fans to behave themselves at matches.

　　"Racism, violence and people running on to the pitch has got to be put out of our game. You all know it's going to get us into a lot of trouble. We've been warned already and we don't want to face elimination from the competition," Beckham said.