David Beckham denied chance of Tottenham friendly by insurance snag

David Beckham's chances of agreeing a loan deal at Tottenham are fading fast after the latest insurance wrangle. Photograph: Gerry Penny/EPA

David Beckham suffered further frustration at Tottenham Hotspur when he was prevented from playing for them in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Queens Park Rangers. The LA Galaxy midfielder, who is training at the north London club and hopes to join them on loan until the Major League Soccer season kicks off on 15 March, was ready to play on Tuesday only to be stood down because of the latest wrangle over his insurance.

Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, said last Friday that Beckham had only that day been cleared to train fully with the squad and "join in with everything we do", after first linking up with them at the start of the week. Redknapp, who said that there had been a "bit of an issue over that", was asked whether that meant Beckham had been granted permission to play in full practice matches. "Yeah, oh yeah," he replied. "He can just join in and train properly."

But Beckham was unable to play against Rangers due to complications over his insurance policy and, specifically, who pays it during his stay in England. Galaxy remain scarred by the events of last year, when they allowed Beckham out on loan to Milan for the second season in succession and watched him rupture his achilles tendon against Chievo in March, an injury that not only denied him the chance to play for England at the World Cup finals in South Africa but also wrecked his season in the United States.

The forthcoming MLS season will be Beckham's last at Galaxy and the club do not want anything to jeopardise it, hence their insistence that he return to pre-season training with them on 10 February, which has undermined the 35-year-old's hopes of securing the loan deal that he wants at Tottenham.

Redknapp has said that there is no point in taking him until then, particularly as Beckham remains short of match fitness, and only if Galaxy relax their stance and allow him to stay until the beginning of March would Tottenham consider the deal. With each passing day, the chances of an agreement recede.

There is also an element of Galaxy finally getting tough. Since Beckham joined them from Real Madrid in July 2007, he has played 57 matches for them and 55 for Milan and England, leading to questions about where his priorities lie. Galaxy do not want to play second fiddle.

Redknapp, meanwhile, has had a meeting with Niko Kranjcar, at which the Croatia midfielder expressed frustration at his lack of playing time and made it clear that he needed the situation to change. The talks were cordial, with Kranjcar accepting that he had slipped down the reckoning because of the good form of others and Redknapp sympathetic to his plight.

But the bottom line for Kranjcar is that he wants to play and if he cannot do so at Tottenham then he will look elsewhere. Kranjcar is tipped for a loan move this month and he is determined to resolve the situation definitively by the end of the summer, at the latest. He has left the ball in Tottenham's court and he will wait to hear from either Redknapp or the chairman, Daniel Levy, confident that they will look after his best interests.

Kranjcar, who was signed by Redknapp from Portsmouth in September 2009, has seemingly been pushed further down the pecking order by the arrival of Steven Pienaar from Everton. Kranjcar has started only three matches in all competitions for the club this season. He has four and a half years to run on his contract.