ALBION chairman Dick Knight has accused David Beckham’s American club of a lack of respect in their pursuit of Chris Birchall.

The Seagulls are refusing to let Birchall link up with LA Galaxy until the season is over.

They want to hold on to the Trinidad and Tobago midfielder for the rest of their relegation battle and say there has been no direct contact from Galaxy, although Birchall’s agent claims he has been verbally offered a contract by the MLS club. Knight said: “Chris is our most experienced midfielder, he’s an international and we need him here. If we were mid-table then probably we would let Chris go. But Galaxy haven’t respected our relegation battle and haven’t bothered to make direct contact.

“Our transfer window is closed so we have no opportunity to replace Chris and in our current predicament we can’t afford to lose him.”

The US transfer window closes next Wednesday but Birchall, whose contract with Albion expires on 30 June, could still become a Galaxy player in a similar arrangement to Beckham.

The former England captain will return to Los Angeles from AC Milan on July 15, when the MLS transfer window re-opens, with the season running until November.

Birchall is expected to feature in Albion’s key clash with Swindon today after making his first appearance under manager Russell Slade in Tuesday’s win at Hereford.

Slade said: “We’ve had no contact from LA Galaxy but Chris’s representative has been in touch to tell us he’s had a verbal offer of a one-year deal, with a club option of an extension.

“Obviously it’s an attractive offer but, first and foremost, I need to consider the Albion and we need Chris here in the fight for survival.

“Chris played an important part in Tuesday night’s win and it would be wrong of me and the club to let a player of his calibre depart, bearing in mind the situation we are currently in.”