Beckham heaps praise on Real teammates

Superstar David Beckham said he was ecstatic to be the newest member of Real Madrid's star-studded squad, and gushed over his teammates footballing skills.

"Since I've been here its been an amazing time," he said after a training session.

"I've really enjoyed myself so far, the players have been amazing to me trying to speak a little bit of English and obviously trying to speak a little bit of Spanish as well," the English captain said.

"It's a great bunch of players. You know they are great players but you don't know how good they are until you play with them and train with them."

Beckham, who jumped ship from Manchester United to the Spanish champion side on July 2, is playing outside the English Premier League for the first time in his career.

He said that after 12 seasons at United, playing in Spain would be a big challenge.

"I think its likely to be different from the Premier League," he said of La Liga.

"It's a big challenge because it's one of, if not the, biggest and best league in the world.

"To put myself in a team like this and take this challenge is important to me, that's what I'm looking forward to."

Beckham and Real Madrid are in southwestern China on a promotional tour of Asia that will include exhibition matches in Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok.