Party boy Becks hits the town

He has always been seen as a family man who liked nothing better than a night in.

When David Beckham did venture out on the tiles, it was invariably with his wife Victoria.

How quickly things have changed. Surrounded by girls, Beckham and some of his new Real Madrid team mates are pictured above leaving a Spanish nightclub at 4am.

The group then went on to another club, staying until 5am when Beckham drove home alone - the third time the 28-year-old England captain is known to have arrived home after midnight in the past week.

His latest night out came after Beckham and

his pop singer wife - who is trying to kickstart her career in London and New York - issued an unprecedented statement denying suggestions of marriage problems.

In the 88 days since the former Manchester United star moved to Madrid, his wife has spent only 34 days there.

Friends say the couple have been torn by her music ambitions and his determination to set up a family home in Madrid.

With his wife 780 miles away in London for fashion week, Beckham was pictured on Sunday with a group of girls as he left Madrid nightclub Avenox at 4am. The footballer and teammates, who included Raul Bravo, Roberto Carlos and Iker Casillas, were celebrating that day's defeat of rivals Malaga.

After they left Avenox, the stars went on to the Kapital club accompanied by the girls. They all left separately an hour later, with Beckham going off in his Audi.

One nightclub insider said: 'A lot of girls were making beelines for Beckham all night. He and his teammates were enjoying themselves in the VIP section.'

A spokesman for Beckham said he had been on a 'boys' night out' with five team mates, but insisted 'there were no girls with him'.

Although some may claim Beckham is simply trying to bond with his new team mates, some friends admit they are growing concerned at his partying.

Last Thursday night he followed a meal with his minders with a late night drink at a bar called Ananda until 2.30am.

He celebrated the birthday of teammate Ronaldo on Monday at the star's home until 3.30am.

'This is not like the David I know,' said one friend. 'He is a real stay-athome type of guy and he only usually goes to parties if he has to.'

Beckham's partying comes as he and his 29-year-old wife are experiencing the most time apart since they married. He has admitted that he is 'so lonely' without her.

Even after their marriage problems were reported in The Mail on Saturday, they have hardly been together.

Mrs Beckham attended two London fashion show parties with new mentor, rapper Damon Dash, on Saturday and Sunday.

And even when she returned to Madrid on Tuesday - kissing Beckham chastely on the cheek at the airport - she went straight out without him to an awards ceremony.

As the Daily Mail reported last week, while Beckham's new life in Spain is going like a dream on the pitch, it is quite a different matter off the pitch.

There have been stories of furious rows as he insists the family has to be based there with him while his wife maintains they do not.

'We weren't always in Manchester with you,' she is said to have told him. 'Why should Madrid be different?'

One insider said: 'The reality is that Victoria doesn't much like Madrid. She can't understand why the family can't continue to live in Hertfordshire and commute.

'After all, she says, they've even got a private jet company as a sponsor and it only takes two hours to fly to Madrid - less time than it took to drive to Manchester'.

One company has already reportedly been approached by the Beckhams' representatives about the possibility of buying a £6million Gulfstream jet.

The 520mph plane could land at Stansted or at a private airport near

Harlow, both only a few miles from 'Beckingham Palace', the couple's £4.5million home in Sawbridgeworth.

Beckham, however, is said to be distinctly less than enthusiastic about the idea, insisting he wants to settle in Spain and learn the language.

One close friend of the couple said: 'Posh misses her sister, her mum and dad and England. At least David's got his team and something to do with his time. She's got nothing but the kids.'

Her feelings about Madrid are said to have taken a turn for the worse a couple of weeks ago when the couple's one-year-old son Romeo fell and cut his head while out shopping with Beckham's mother Sandra.

He needed two stitches and his mother was said to have fumed: 'It never happened in London. Why should it bloody well happen in this place?'