I don't think Beckham was 23 though was he? In fact by that age I think he'd won a number of major trophies and was a key player for his country. So it does matter to some extent.….that really doesn’t matter, a player can only impress. Beckham went to Preston and did well and even our own Leon Osman had spells at Derby and Carlisle before playing over 300 games for us.
if Broadhead was a failure at Sunderland then you would be making a point.