[funkdoctorspock]

He's still not signed!

The United board have been literally begging him to stay. Apparently there is a big gap as to what Brown wants and what United are offering.

Brown has had a very good season, but he has to keep things in prospective.

1. If Gary Neville was fully fit, Brown wouldn't be starting.
2. On any top 4 club, he wouldn't be starting.
3. On any top 4 club, he wouldn't be getting the wages he's asking.

He wants to be near parity with senior members of the squad. But read above. This is why he isn't being offered those wages. the 50+k a week is an significant raise over the 31 he is currently making. Just sign the contract already.

WES Brown has had his ear bent by his United colleagues in a bid to get the defender to end his Old Trafford contract stalemate.

The Mancunian's colleagues have joined the campaign to convince the 28-year-old to accept the Reds' take-it-or-leave deal.



Details of the new contract offered by the club have been on the table since December when Brown and his agent refused to sign.

The England player's camp is not looking for him to be promoted into the top tier of United wage earners with the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have take home salaries of around £120,000 a week.

But his advisers argue that Brown, who has served United as a senior player for a decade since he was 18, deserves to be among those at the top of the second salary bracket.

United have made their offer and have left the negotiating table, which means Brown, who will become a free agent in the summer when his deal expires, has a decision to make.

The Reds would not get a transfer fee in the summer but would-be buyers could swell the player's pocket and still save a bundle on the transfer.

The whole episode saddens United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who has already turned down a so-called derisory offer from Newcastle during the January transfer window for Brown. He said: "There is no movement at all. It's in his hands. It's not in our hands.

"We have given him his offer. We wouldn't have made the offer if we hadn't had faith in him.

Regular

"It's amazing really, given that he has had such a good season and has had such a good run of games while Gary Neville has been injured."

Brown, who suffered a series of serious injuries in his early years as a United senior, is enjoying his most sustained run in the first team.

He has been a regular as stand-in to captain Neville, who has been out since March when he injured ankle ligaments against Bolton. Since surgery he has been plagued by niggling injuries, while Brown has prospered at right back and was also in Fabio Capello's first England line-up in the friendly against Switzerland earlier this month.

Ferguson is angry that the player's agent appears to be playing a part in placing Brown and the club, who have nurtured him from youth level, on a collision course.

"Players of today live in their agents' pockets," said the Old Trafford manager.

"It's a situation which depresses me at times, it really depresses me.

"Wes has been with us since he is 12 but I don't think that matters these days.

"Their agents live their lives for them and if you are happy to go along with that then you get the situation that you have got just now. But Wes knows this. And the other players have told him."

United will be hoping that with a posse of his dressing room pals on his case, Brown may relent and sign up.

The tough-tackling defender could be playing a risky game with his United career by refusing to accept the final offer.

Three years ago, United's Northern Ireland international keeper Roy Carroll rejected an Old Trafford deal and allowed the saga to drag on for months.

Once again it was a situation that perplexed Ferguson and eventually the club lost patience and suddenly withdrew their final offer completely.

Carroll left the club in May 2005 for West Ham and has since moved to Derby.

Longsight-born United fan Brown could now be gambling with a similar fate.

United have already been strongly linked with Porto right back Jose Bosingwa as a potential signing, with Brown's future, and that of Neville, up in the air.

Reds urge Brown to stay - Manchester United - Football - Sport - Manchester Evening News