David Beckham will stay on loan at Milan for the rest of the season before returning to Los Angeles Galaxy although his long-term future remains unresolved.

"I'm really grateful to the LA Galaxy and Milan for making this dream deal happen," the England midfielder said yesterday.

"The perfect result for 2009 would be for me to help Milan to reach the Champions League and for the LA Galaxy to make the play-offs and win the MLS Cup."

A Galaxy statement said the deal "has been funded jointly by Milan and the player himself".

The 33-year-old joined Milan on a two-month loan in January and had been due to return to Galaxy today. However, the original deal technically had to be until June meaning the clubs could now agree to a new deal outside the transfer window.

Milan said in a statement Beckham would now stay at the club until June 30.

He will then return to Los Angeles but neither club made any mention of what would happen at the end of the US Major League Soccer (MLS) season in November.

Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani said on Saturday that Beckham, who moved to Galaxy from Real Madrid in 2007, would be giving up "a mountain of money" to make the deal go through.

A Milan source, who said Beckham's last game for the Italians would be at Fiorentina on May 31, added the club had paid less than five million euros.

Beckham, who had expressed a wish to stay with Milan full time after a good start to his career in Italy, was nonetheless pleased with the agreement.

"It allows me to play for Milan and the LA Galaxy in the same year, and at the same time to continue my commitment to develop soccer in the United States, which is something I am passionate about," he said.

"My family is happy and settled and will remain in LA."

The world's most marketable player joined Milan in a bid to safeguard his England place during the long US close season from October to March.