However, he struggled along with the rest of his team-mates during the second half of the campaign as Real finished without a trophy and in only fourth place in the Primera Liga.

Beckham has committed himself to at least another year in Spain as he looks to build on that learning experience but believes he has already made his mark.

“I think I’ve improved a lot of things. I said before I went there that I wanted to learn from those great players and from the experience of playing in Spain. I’ve definitely done that,” he declared.

“People have only gone on at the end of this season about the ’failure’ that I’ve been and that another English player has failed in Spain. But I don’t feel that I’ve failed in Spain.

“I haven’t won anything and that’s the failure so far, but personally I feel that my performances, especially at the start of the season, proved to a lot of people that I wasn’t there just to sell shirts. I was there because I can play football as well.”

Beckham is not alone in being accused of having under-performed, especially in the tail-end of the season as Real’s title bid slumped.

“They’ve said that about the whole team this season. Apart from my start to the season, they’ve said it about me and they’ve said it about Ronaldo and Raul,” he added.

“When players drop from their high standards for a game or two, they’ve had a poor season.”

Beckham has nevertheless still learned from players such as Zinedine Zidane, just as he developed his game alongside the likes of Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona at Old Trafford.

“Being in a team with ’Zizou’ is amazing. It has helped my touch and the quickness of my feet has become a lot better, especially playing in the middle,” he observed.

“When I played a 50-yard ball to him, if he hadn’t volleyed it into the bottom corner, then it wouldn’t have made my pass look as good!”