Beckham was left out against Real Madrid

In his forthcoming autobiography, My Side, serialised in the News of the World newspaper, Beckham says that Ferguson did not like the person he became as he matured.

"The gaffer had had enough," writes Beckham. "I'd grown up as a person and he didn't seem to like what I'd become."

Beckham's celebrity lifestyle, particularly after he started his relationship with wife Victoria, irked Ferguson and led to a series of rows.

The final straw for Beckham came after United's Champions League quarter-final defeat to Real Madrid last season.

I believed what I had done during the game against Real Madrid would force a way back in for me. No chance David Beckham

Trailing 3-1 from the first-leg and 3-2 on the night, Beckham scored twice after coming on as a substitute, but missed a free-kick close to the end of the match.

"His face after I missed that free kick made me feel like a door had just been slammed in mine," writes Beckham.

"I'd been flying all evening, I believed what I had done during the game would force a way back in for me. No chance.

"Everybody had assumed I'd been playing, except me. It felt as though the whole season had been building up to him doing this to me. 'Real Madrid: an important game son. Too important for you to play in.'"

"I shook my head, turned around and began walking back to the changing room. Thinking back to that scene now, if he still cared about me as player, as a person, we'd have had a row there and then."

Beckham scores on Real debut

Beckham claims he met Ferguson four weeks later to discuss their deteriorating relationship.

He says Ferguson told him he was annoyed with Beckham for waiting to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace after the 2002 World Cup instead of going straight on holiday to continue recuperating from his broken foot.

"I tried to explain, I'd have been ripped apart if I wasn't there," writes Beckham. "It felt like I was on the end of the worst criticism."

Beckham left United for Real Madrid at the end of the 2002-03 season and scored after just 90 seconds of his Primera Liga debut against Real Betis on Saturday.