Fabio Capello flies into London to seal £4m deal to be England's new manager by Friday

Italian hardman Fabio Capello will arrive in London today where he is expected to seal a £4 million-a-year deal to be the next England football manager.

The former Real Madrid and AC Milan manager has cancelled a television commitment to travel with his agent son, Pierfilippo, for talks with Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick.

The talks will take place over the next two days at a secret location and it is thought that the two camps could agree a deal as early as Friday.

However, should the 61-year-old be handed the chance to try and revive the national team's fortunes, it could spell the end for David Beckham.

The 32-year-old former England captain fell out spectacularly with the notoriously strict manager during their time together at Spanish club Real Madrid.

But Becks is desperate to reach the coveted milestone of being one of only a handful of England stars to reach 100 caps.

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While his international career sparked back into life under previous manager Steve McClaren he has found himself stranded on 99 caps when the former coach was sacked last month.

And Capello, one of the most successful managers of all time, is expected to immediately tell FA bosses that none of England's big-name stars are safe.

"The one thing he has noticed in the team is that there are only three or four personalities," a trusted aide told the Daily Mail.

"There are one or two big names in the dressing room that he really is not sure about. There will be casualties for sure.

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Capello was thrust straight into contention when fans' favourite Jose Mourinho ruled himself out of a return to English football last week.

However, as well as Beckham, there will be other players concerned at the prospect of such a no-nonsense manager coming in to take charge.

With players used to the more relaxed approach favoured by Steve McClaren and Sven Goran Eriksson, Capello may even consider banning the WAGs from accompanying their partners abroad if he considers them too much of a distraction.

And current captain John Terry may also be sweating over his future as England's leader after a series of disastrous results under the previous regime cost the team qualification for next summer's European tournament.

Yesterday, players who have worked under Capello were queuing up to point out that players who had an easy ride under previous England managers may be in for a shock.

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The Italian, who has managed Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Roma during a hugely-successful managerial career, is not here to make friends, they say.

He will coach the team himself but the players can expect little dialogue.

He will patrol the perimeter of the pitch during his notoriously intense training sessions, form his opinions and then post the team on the dressing room wall an hour or so before kick-off.

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Capello does not have time for disgruntled, disaffected or disillusioned players and it will be left to Franco Baldini, his trusted lieutenant, to explain why they have been omitted.

Former Chelsea player Ruud Gullit who played under Capello at AC Milan said he was a very moody manager: "You certainly don't fool around with him.

"You have to go his way or you will get in trouble. He screams at you. You don't see him laughing much/ He's very moody. But he's straightforward and he knows what he wants."