• Club owner wants partner to ‘lighten load’ of bringing project to fruition • Struggle to find stadium site has been holding up Beckham’s plans

David Beckham’s Miami football club are in talks with Paris Saint-Germain about the sale of an equity stake, it has been confirmed.

Miami Beckham United, the ownership vehicle behind a proposed MLS team in the Florida city, is seeking a partner to what an insider has described as “lightening the load” of bringing the project to fruition. Two years have passed since the Beckham group was granted an MLS franchise, amid struggles to find a stadium site. The current target is for the team to feature in the 2018 MLS season.

MBU insists a partnership deal was always planned, with PSG among a mixture of foreign clubs and business people who have entered negotiations. They could be concluded within a matter of weeks. Beckham will remain as the focal point of the club, regardless of what now seems an inevitable share sale.

PSG’s majority shareholder is Qatar Sports Investments. Beckham has a connection with the French club having played for them 10 times in his final season in 2013 before retiring. He has since retained close links with Qatar.

A statement from MBU read: “As Miami Beckham United lays the groundwork for launching a world class soccer club in Miami, our team has attracted interest from a number of potential partners.

“David Beckham, Simon Fuller and Marcelo Claure are evaluating these possibilities, with the goal of bringing additional resources and international expertise that draws players, staff and fans from around the world.

“Any potential partner will share our team’s vision of creating a team that makes Miami and MLS proud. At the same time, we are performing due diligence on our stadium site as we move toward finalising the acquisition of two privately held properties and a third county-owned parcel over the coming weeks.”

The complicated stadium scenario has been the major impediment to Beckham’s plans so far. MBU hopes to seal final approval this summer for land in Overtown, just north of downtown Miami, with a view to starting construction early in 2017.