One can always trust David Beckham and Michael Owen to make an unerring attempt on the net. Their investment instincts seem to be as well honed as they, and nine other leading English footballers, have snapped up holiday homes on The Palm islands.

Beckham, who recently effected a transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid, will still have former United teammates Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Wes Brown and Nicky Butt as neighbours when the billion-dollar resort is complete in two years' time.

Wayne Bridge, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Kieron Dyer and David James have also signed contracts to buy luxury five-bedroom villas on the island, along with England goalkeeping coach, Ray Clemence, and physio Stephen Slattery.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman of The Palm, said they have all bought on the first of two virtually identical islands being 'reclaimed' off Dubai's exclusive Jumeirah coast.

The England squad held a warm-up camp in Dubai in May last year en route to the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea and the players and staff were taken on a private visit to The Palm's sales office and given a computer-simulated tour of what the islands will look like when complete.

"Once seen - never forgotten - that is the reaction of virtually all the visitors who discover the vision and scale of The Palm when they see our sales office," said Bin Sulayem. "This was clearly the case with 11 of the England players and two of the management team when they visited our office a little over a year ago. We are delighted to welcome them to The Palm."

The £1 million luxury villas come with their own 130 feet private beach and swimming pool and buyers are able to choose from 28 architectural styles - although it is not known if Beckham, 28, and pop star wife, Victoria, opted for the Spanish Hacienda-style design on offer.

Construction of the first island - The Palm, Jumeirah - began in 2001, and is expected to be fully 'reclaimed' from the sea by the end of this year. Builders will then move in to construct the hotels, villas and apartments which are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2005.

The second island, being built further up the coast at Jebel Ali, began a year later and is due for completion in 2007. Each will be connected to the mainland by at least one 300-metre bridge.

The first of the two islands will be six kilometres long and 5.5 kilometres wide when complete, with restaurants, shops and apartments on the 'trunk', luxury villas on the 'fronds' and boutique hotels on the protective crescent-shaped barrier reefs, which surround them.