Training king? Why ‘perfect’ David Beckham rose above Arsenal & AC Milan greats Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho & Kaka during surprise stint with Gunners

Former Switzerland international Senderos worked with a number of all-time greats across his spells at Arsenal and AC Milan. It was during his time in north London that he first crossed paths with current Inter Miami co-owner Beckham.

The Manchester United and Real Madrid great was on the books of MLS side the LA Galaxy at the time, but headed to north London in January 2008 to spend three weeks training with Arsenal under legendary French coach Arsene Wenger.

He would go on to be reunited with Senderos during a loan spell at Milan, with the Swiss telling talkSPORT of who impressed him most in training – having also worked with the likes of World Cup winner Henry and Brazilian superstars Ronaldinho and Kaka: “Obviously they were all world-class and top. But the best player in training, they all had great quality and everything, David Beckham for me was unbelievable in training. His application, what he would do every single day to prepare himself and be one of the best performers at the weekend, David Beckham.

Senderos added: "I remember him once coming to Arsenal to do like a pre-season, we were doing long balls with [Gael] Clichy. There was a triangle, Clichy, myself and David Beckham, we were practising long balls, right foot, left foot, 30/40-yard balls for half an hour. He did not miss one ball, every single one would just get right to your foot, one metre from the floor, like really perfect balls. When he missed the first one, we both stopped and said, 'Okay, that's it!'”

Beckham hung up his boots in 2013, following a spell at Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain, but remains very much involved in competitive football. He helped to launch the Inter Miami franchise in MLS, with eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi now part of a star-studded squad in Florida.