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West Ham want David Beckham to bring the curtain down on his career by coming home to his East End roots.

Beckham fired the starting gun on the last scramble for his signature when he announced that the MLS final on December 1 would be his farewell appearance for Los Angeles Galaxy after five years as a football missionary in the States.

Despite the reservations of the likes of Andy Dawson, Twitter's Profanity Swan, suitors are queuing up.

The Irons’ co-chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan are ready to offer the former England captain, now 37, an encore in the Premier League.

A clutch of Australian A-League clubs, including Melbourne Heart and Perth Glory, have already launched bids, while Paris Saint-Germain – bankrolled by super-rich Qatari royalty – are intrigued by the celebrity circus that develops wherever brand Beckham pitches its big top.

Melbourne will offer him £1.2million for just 10 games at the start of next year, but there is an open ­invitation for Beckham to end his career with the Hammers - who regard him as a statesman who will deliver them to the Olympic Stadium.

The Hammers tried to lure local boy Beckham to Upton Park two years ago and Gold said: “He was an ambassador for the London 2012 bid and it would be a fantastic statement if he came to us.

“He’s an East end boy and it would be a fitting end to his career. We’ve also been mindful of his value as an ambassador to help us secure the Olympic stadium.”

As bookies William Hill installed the Hammers as second favourites to land Beckham on his last crusade, ex-West Ham captain Alvin Martin insisted he would be a perfect fit - not least for struggling on-loan Liverpool striker Andy Carroll.

England centre-forward Carroll has not scored in 630 minutes of club football after again firing blanks in Monday night's draw with Stoke, and Martin said: “Becks would be perfect at delivering crosses for Andy Carroll.

“He’s still got another year or two left in him because he’s not all about pace and athleticism. He should go to West Ham - if they are doing as well towards the end of the season as they are now, then why not?”

(Image: Mike Hewitt)

Beckham has won league titles in three different countries with Manchester United, Real Madrid and the Galaxy.

Since he left Madrid in 2007, after helping clinch the La Liga in his last appearance at the Bernabeu, he has scored 18 goals and provided 40 assists in 98 regular-season games for the Galaxy.

The family home in Beverley Hills is valued at £14 million and he has earned £29m in 2012, making him the highest-paid footballer in the world.

According to the Sunday Times' Rich List, Beckham’s net worth is now estimated around £190m.

All this after watching the Spice Girls perform on TV during an England World Cup qualifying excursion to Georgia in 1996 and announcing, “I’m going to marry the one with the legs”.

The inquest can now begin.

Where did it all go wrong, Goldenballs?

In truth, Beckham has frittered away the last five years of his career in an irrelevant league when he was still good enough to embarrass Steve McClaren for shovelling him towards the knackers’ yard with England and to play in the Champions League for AC Milan.

His decision to chase fistfuls of dollars in the California and District Sunday League turned him from the standard-bearer of English football’s ‘golden generation’ into a long-haul missionary.

Beckham’s record tally of 115 England caps, more than any outfield player in Three Lions history, was bloated towards the end of Fabio Capello’s reign by walk-on parts as a substitute.

And the last time we saw Beckham on the bench, he was wearing his three-piece M&S England suit in South Africa as a celebrity cheerleader on Capello’s ill-fated World Cup campaign.

That said, Don Fabio’s ham-fisted treatment of a patriot who served England in three World Cup tournaments, branding Beckham “a little bit too old” and offering him a farewell appearance at Wembley when he had no intention of retiring, was a travesty.