Real confident Beckham will stay in Madrid.

REAL Madrid sports director Predrag Mijatovic is confident that the club's serious challenge for honors this season will convince David Beckham to stay on in Spain.

The former England captain has not won a major trophy with Real since moving from Manchester United in 2003, as the club suffered a downturn in fortunes.

"He hasn't had much luck in the last three years because when he arrived at Real he thought he was going to win many trophies," Mijatovic said in an interview with Serbian radio station B-92 and the BBC.

"Now the situation is different and I think he is conscious of this."

With a new team of president Ramon Calderon and coach Fabio Capello installed, Real is looking a much stronger proposition this season. It is third in the Primera Liga, three points behind leader Barcelona, and still in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.

The main stumbling block to Beckham signing a contract extension is the fact that the 31-year-old has dropped out of favor with Capello. He has started only three out of 12 league games this season. "As far as I am aware, Beckham is happy here in Madrid. At the moment he isn't in the starting lineup but that's not to say that the situation won't have changed in a couple of weeks' time."

Meanwhile, Boca Juniors president Mauricio Macri said Real will have to increase its offer for Fernando Gago if it wants to sign the young Argentine midfielder.

Spanish media reports claim Real is prepared to pay between 15 and 20 million euros (US$19.79million-US$26.39m) for the highly rated 20-year-old, but Macri said that the nine-time European champion faced stiff competition from other clubs.

Real Madrid chief: Inter Milan offered Adriano swap to us.

Real Madrid sports chief Predrag Mijatovic insists they never intended to sell Ronaldo over the summer.

"At no moment have we wanted to transfer him because if we had, there would have remained only one forward left here," said Mijatovic. "That would be illogical.

"He never wanted to leave and has shown this to us. I am convinced that we are going to see him return to his best. He is excited and I am sure that he will bring us many goals and joy. That will mean points.

"The exchange with Adriano was proposed by Inter."

Mijatovic: We will sign Kaka.

Real Madrid sports director Predrag Mijatovic is convinced he will eventually land his No1 transfer target, AC Milan midfield ace Kaka.

"Kaka represented one of the promises made to our supporters by Calderon, who knows it would be important to have such a high-quality player on our team," he told the AS newspaper.

"During the summer we had several conversations with Kaka and his agent and I honestly believed that we could reach an agreement.

"The player expressed his wish to come here and the complicated situation caused by the match-fixing scandal made me think that Kaka would finally land in Madrid," he continued.

"In the end, Milan did not allow him to leave and he preferred not to put any pressure on his club, which he is very fond of.

"But we are sure that he will come sooner or later," added the former Fiorentina striker.