Real Madrid president Fernando Martin has indicated his shortlist in the hunt for the next manager of the Spanish giants, with England boss Sven Goran Eriksson topping the list.

Eriksson was named by the Real president Fernando Martin in a seven-man shortlist on Tuesday - but significantly, the six other names on the list have already made it clear that they aren’t available to take up the position, leaving Eriksson as the clear favourite, unless a surprise new candidate is comes into the fray.

England captain David Beckham, who plays for Real, yesterday maintained that Eriksson is more than capable of taking on one of the toughest job’s in football when he leaves the England managerial post after the World Cup Finals this summer.

Real Madrid have gone through five managers since Beckham's arrival in 2003, and prior to that, having had eight other coaches in the managerial role in the previous 10 years.

But England captain, who probably knows Eriksson better than any other player, has backed the Swede, saying he has what it takes to succeed in the managerial role at Real Madrid.

“I think he would work well with the current set of players,” said Beckham. “Because that is one of his qualities - his man-management, the way he treats the players with a lot of respect and what he is able to get out of the players.”

Beckham, speaking after a training session with Real Madrid yesterday, said: “He will support the players in front of the press and I think that is important, players respond to that.”

There is no doubt that the media pressure the England manager has encountered during his time in the England job will stand him in good stead, should he be appointed as the Real manager, as it is one of the highest profile teams in the world, and has massive media attention.

“He is an experienced manager so he can handle it," said Beckham. “He has been the England manager for five years and he has handled the press and pressures that go with that. He can handle it wherever he manages.”

Real president Martin has been under pressure to show that some progress was being made in the search for the new Real boss, after having stated publicly three weeks ago that a new manager would be in place “In three weeks' time”.

On Tuesday, at a press conference, he named his shortlist of the seven coaches he has in mind for the job.

From the shortlist - basically, a list of some of the top managers in the game - Eriksson stood out as the one outstanding candidate, who would also be out-of-contract and available after the World Cup.

Of the other potential candidates, Arsène Wenger has consistently, yet still only verbally, committed his future to Arsenal; Rafael Benitez has signed a new deal with European champions Liverpool; Carlo Ancelotti has extended his deal at AC Milan.

These names, along with Fabio Capello, who coaches Serie A leader’s Juventus, and Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho, who have both stated that they are staying where they are, with the seventh candidate named being Italy head coach Marcello Lippi.

Beckham agreed that Eriksson could be one of the favourites for the post saying: “Sven is the obvious one because he will be out of a job.

“He will be free and available, so we will see. I think it's a list of the best managers in football. It's easy to say who you want but getting them is going to be difficult. I haven't got a clue who it will be, but Sven is certainly one of the best managers around and his name was bound to come into the equation.”

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