Sir Alex Ferguson has no doubt who was responsible for David Beckham's headlong pursuit of celebrity.

In his press conference on Tuesday to publicise his new autobiography, Ferguson said "everything changed" for Beckham once he met Victoria.

The Spice Girl, who went on to become his wife and mother of the former England captain's four children, was at the peak of her fame within the pop world.

And Beckham was swept along.

It led to the breakdown of his relationship with Ferguson, and ultimately his exit from Manchester United.

"The big problem for me is that I am football man," said Ferguson.

"He fell in love with Victoria and that changed everything."

Ferguson knew he had a big problem when he was given a tip-off that Beckham was intent on unveiling a new hairstyle prior to a game at Leicester.

"David turned up with a Beanie hat on," recalled Ferguson.

"At dinner that night he was still wearing it. I told him to take it off, but he wouldn't."

Ferguson admitted he was fuming at the challenge to his authority, to the Scot a sacrosanct part of his managerial abilities.

It got no better the following day, when Beckham was still sporting his beanie hat as he was about to go out to warm up.

"If you go out with that beanie hat on you will not be playing," said Ferguson.

An equally furious Beckham tore the hat off in a rage, denied what was lined up to be a well choreographed photo opportunity.

The seeds of the eventual split had been sewn, with the end coming with a boot kicked by Ferguson in the home dressing room following an FA Cup defeat by Arsenal, and the axing of Beckham for the second leg of a Champions League defeat by Real Madrid in which he scored twice.

"David is the only player I managed who chose to be famous," said Ferguson.

"He thought he was bigger than Alex Ferguson."

Against Arsenal, Ferguson blamed Beckham for not picking up Silvain Wiltord, leading to the visitors' second goal.

Defeat led to a row, which escalated.

"David swore. I moved towards him and as I approached, I kicked a boot. It hit him right above the eye."

Beckham was summoned for a meeting the following day and offered nothing in response.

By the time he was left out of the Madrid game, Ferguson felt the midfielder was on his way.

"We made the right decision to let him go to Real Madrid," said Ferguson.

"We felt it was the right time.

"I had to think about my own control of the club and where we were going with that."

For years the pair did not speak.

Rapprochement came during the build-up to a Champions League encounter with Inter Milan when Beckham was in the middle of his first stint with AC Milan.

That move to Italy came as he looked to extend his international career, having spent four years with Real Madrid and then moved on to LA Galaxy.

Ferguson wonders eventually if Beckham will view that transfer as a mistake.

"If he'd asked my advice about going to LA Galaxy to Real Madrid I would have told him exactly what I thought about it," he said.

"How can you do that. Of course, he reinvented himself a couple of times to go to AC Milan and then to PSG.

"Towards the end I think he missed the big time football. Maybe in years to come he will look back and say maybe I should have stayed at Real Madrid."

Ferguson insists he has not picked on Beckham.

And, in assessing the Londoners' career as a whole, has plenty of praise for him.

"How can I argue how he has turned out as a human being?" he said.

"He is an icon to every kid in the world and a very wealthy guy.

"I never had any issue with him. I liked him.

"At 12 he had a fantastic ambition to be a footballer. He worked to get to the point where he became a great player."