There have been many pranks on footballers over the years but James Corden’s latest effort on David Beckham is right up there with the best of them.The Late Late Show host spent three months preparing for the prank with his colleagues and they pulled it off to absolute perfection.Beckham was left mortified after turning up to the unveiling of his new Los Angeles Galaxy statue, believing what was presented in front of him was the real thing.The statue - which gave Cristiano Ronaldo’s infamous sculpture at Madeira airport a serious run for its money - displayed a completely unrealistic representation of the former Manchester United and Real Madrid superstar.“It’s slightly different than it was when I saw it in Chicago,” a crestfallen Beckham told the fake sculptor. “I look like Stretch Armstrong.”

The fake sculptor told Beckham: “I believe, what I did here was try to capture you in motion.”

Beckham replied: “Yeah but there was capturing me in motion but also making me…look at my chin!”

The ex-England captain added: “I don’t want to offend you but this is such a big thing for me.

“There is no way that can go in front of the stadium. It’s embarrassing.”

Beckham, who maintained his politeness throughout, also said his children would probably cry if they saw it.

However, the 43-year-old was left breathing a sigh of relief when, in another bizarre incident, a forklift truck’s attempts to move the sculpture left it in pieces as it smashed to the ground.

Under his breath, Beckham joked that it had done him a “favour”, before Corden came out shouting: “oh my god, what’s happened?”.

It was at this moment that it dawned on Beckham he’s just been the victim of an elaborate prank.

“Thank god for that!” he said to his fellow Brit.

Watch the prank in full here…

Well played, James Corden.

And fair play to Beckham for being such a great sport and proving beyond all doubt that he’s a class act.