The former England captain is set to make his debut for PSG after joining as a free agent in late January for five months.

“As big a star as Beckham is off the pitch … realistically he doesn’t put the fear of God into you anymore like he used to when he played in the Premier League,” Barton told a news conference. “No disrespect to him, but if he does manage to play for Paris (he) will probably not be the main concern for us as a defensive unit.”

Barton, who joined Marseille in late August on a one-year loan deal from Queens Park Rangers, said that big-spending PSG had plenty of gifted players and that “it would be naive of us to focus on David Beckham.”

Barton was equally emphatic about matters off the pitch involving his fellow Englishman.

“I don’t envy his position,” he said. “I don’t envy the amount of media intrusion he has in his life on a daily basis.”

Beckham is looking to win the championship with a fourth different club and in a fourth different country, after success at Manchester United, Real Madrid and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The 37-year-old midfielder made his last appearance for the Galaxy on Dec. 1.

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Last-place Queens Park Rangers was the most active, signing defender Christopher Samba from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala for a reported club-record fee of 12 million pounds ($19 million) while Peter Crouch is on the list of strikers manager Harry Redknapp is actively chasing.

Meanwhile, Stoke remained hopeful Thursday of its proposed signing of United States winger Brek Shea from FC Dallas in the MLS as well as goalkeeper Jack Butland from Birmingham.

The Staffordshire club announced earlier this week that they had reached agreement with Dallas over the transfer of the 22-year-old Shea, who has passed a medical and took part in Stoke’s training session Thursday. Approval is pending an FA appeals hearing.

Norwich bought Argentine striker Luciano Becchio from Leeds, third-bottom Wigan brought in Austria defender Paul Scharner on loan from Hamburg and Fulham took Netherlands midfielder Urby Emanuelson from AC Milan on loan.

Aside from champion Manchester City, which sealed the transfer of Italy striker Mario Balotelli to Milan, England’s top teams were quiet on a slow day compared to previous January windows.

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