David Beckham's leap from Real Madrid to the Los Angeles Galaxy was front-page news across the United States on Friday, his 250 million-dollar deal sparking such headlines as 'Spend it Like Beckham'.

That was the slogan on the front of the tabloid New York Post, accompanied by a Vanity Fair photograph of a shirtless Beckham.

The English football star's five-year stint will begin once his contract at Real Madrid expires on 30 June, boosting the US profile of a sport largely ignored by US sports supporters in favour of basketball, baseball and American football.

'Beckham's Big Score' topped the New York Daily News tabloid front, noting his one million dollar a week payout atop a lead story on US President George W. Bush's plans to send more troops into Iraq.

Beckham and his wife, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, will clearly be a big hit off the field with the Hollywood glamour crowd and the many celebrities already their friends.

'Beckham enters Hollywood orbit' heralded Daily Variety on its front page, affirming 'Becks' star power with the entertainment world.

The Los Angeles Times' front page tale on the Beckhams was headlined 'A Pair of Stars, an LA sky and a Happy Galaxy - The Beckhams, a soccer icon and a former Spice Girl, are leaving London for the lights of Hollywood'.

The first sentence seemed to sum up the entire movie-esque scenario of Beckham becoming the messiah for football in America - 'Somehow it was just meant to be'.

The 31-year-old midfielder was side-by-side with the Iraq war on the front of The New York Times, the story noting the importing of US stars in all American sport leagues under the headline 'A Soccer Star Heads to US, Heeding Lure of Hollywood'.

Much of Beckham's income will come not from his work on the field but from a portion of the souvenir, marketing and sponsorship boost he will bring to Major League Soccer, and especially his new club.

Not everyone jumped on the Beckham bandwagon, however.

USA Today had a short front-page mention of Beckham but put its story on his arrival on the 10th of 12 pages in its sports section.

Beckham had a picture at the bottom of the front page of the Washington Post and a major story on the front page of the sports section examining the cultural phenomenon of Beckham under the headline 'MLS's Posh Pickup'.

The Post dubbed Beckham the "Pied Piper" for the 13-team US league, having replaced US teen Freddy Adu as the face of MLS.