Edging closer to official Real Madrid stardom, David Beckham arrived in Spain's capital yesterday and passed a battery of medical tests.

　　The England captain wore a white jacket and shirt and blue jeans ripped at the left knee as he arrived at the Clinica Zarzuela for three hours of tests - the final step in his 35 million euro (US million) transfer from Manchester United.

　　Patients in pyjamas and staff stepped onto the hospital's balconies to catch a glimpse of the soccer star, who smiled and posed briefly for photographs with the club's doctor Alfonso del Corral and other officials. He did not speak to journalists.

　　The medical came courtesy of private health company Sanitas, one of Real Madrid's three sponsors.

　　"He looked happy and was very nice to all Real Madrid's employees," the club's security officer Julio Cendal told the news agency Efe.

　　An hour earlier, Beckham landed at the military airport of Torrejon de Ardoz aboard a private plane from London's Stansted Airport shortly after 1 pm local time and was immediately hurried into a waiting Audi with tinted windows.

　　The star midfielder was accompanied by his wife Victoria, a former member of the Spice Girls pop group, Spanish news agencies reported. But there was sign of her at the hospital.

　　The England captain's unveiling at the stadium of Real Madrid's basketball team - the 5,000-capacity Raimundo Saporta Pavilion - today will be broadcast live at noon. It will coincide with TV primetime in Asia, where Beckham was received as a hero in his recent 10-day promotional tour.

　　Following a welcoming speech by club president Florentino Perez, Beckham will be presented with Madrid's white shirt by honorary president Alfredo di Stefano. The shirt is not expected to bear a number.

　　Immediately after his presentation, Beckham will go to Madrid's nearby Ciudad Deportiva training ground where crowds of photographers will get their a first chance to capture him clad in his new uniform.

　　Even though the scale of Beckham's arrival is unprecedented for a soccer star, Madrid has sought to play down the event.

　　"We're only going to present another player," the club's general director Manuel Redondo told the national El Pais newspaper.

　　In an apparent attempt to ensure its presentation of the world's most marketable player is a sporting rather than a show business occasion, Madrid said it rejected applications, estimated at 500, from the celebrity press to attend Beckham's unveiling today.

　　"Madrid would have committed a mistake if it allowed the presentation of a magnificent player like David to become a circus in which he could be asked about his relationship with his wife or his tastes when it comes to adding to his wardrobe," the daily El Mundo quoted an unnamed member of Madrid's board of directors as saying.

　　However, the scale of the event can be gauged by the total number of accreditations from the sporting press, which at 500 is some three hundred more than attended the presentation of Brazilian ace Ronaldo 10 months ago.