[funkdoctorspock]

I think clubs to a certain extent are all guilty of what Levy is accusing.

Reading Sir Alex's comments before the team left for Africa on there preseason tour, you would swear the deal had already been completed and the last few touches were being worked out.

Yes, he never mentioned who the player was, but seriously. Everyone knows its for Berbatov.

The reality is the bid has been rejected as stated officially by Levy.

So, does a team have a right to freely speak about a bid for a player after its been placed?

We certainly know that no team of respectability has a right to talk about a player coming to a club if no official bid has been placed. [Hello Real...]. So I can see why Levy could be upset with Liverpool.

Could this be Levy cleverly making a statement knowing full well that one, or possibly both of his key players will be sold? And is trying to pinch the last few million pounds out of both clubs...

I really hope Levy isn't basing these comments out of The Sun report. Sad state of affairs if he did so.

There has been substantial speculation in respect of the futures of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane, including press comment from both Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez. In response our Chairman, Daniel Levy has made the following statement:

"Today's public comments by Manchester United's manager, announcing that he has made an offer for Dimitar and is confident that the deal will go through with time working in their favour, is a blatant example of sheer arrogance and interference with one of our players. It is also probably one of the worst offences by any manager in the Premier League to date and is unbelievably hypocritical given his recent comments in respect of Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid.

"This comes after a series of events, dating back to last summer, which have shown Manchester United to be in breach of Premier League (PL) rules. As a result, we have today made an official complaint to the PL about the conduct of Manchester United. Benitez made similar comments in respect of Robbie recently and we made an official complaint to the PL about the conduct of Liverpool earlier this week.

"The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should refrain from pursuing the player. Both clubs arrogantly chose to ignore this request and we now have evidence that both clubs have systematically been working to prise the players away from us, outside of PL rules of conduct.

"Our subsequent position has been severely compromised by both clubs making their intentions widely known and indeed making contact with the players and their agents, without the Club's permission.

"I have absolutely no wish to sell either player and to date we have not accepted any offer for either. However, when a player's head is turned and their commitment is absent, particularly when they occupy key positions such as that of striker, they become a negative influence in a team dressing room in which they were once a positive addition and influence. This is the situation we now have on our hands, with both Dimitar and Robbie having made it clear that they wish to leave for Manchester Utd and Liverpool respectively.

"Irrespective of the outcome and futures of Robbie and Dimitar, we are continuing to seek to bring in quality, talented players for the future, who want to play in a Spurs shirt."

Source

[Dirtycheat]

SAF said he made a bid for a player then he reportedly confirmed it was berba.

Personally, if he did do that then i think Levy is right to be angry.

IMO transfers should be between the 2 clubs and the media shouldnt be used to "tap up" or unsettle a player aswell as add some pressure on the club to sell and the player to move. Most times it backfires anyway.....

IIRC, its not against any rules to do anything like that but i think there ought to be more rules on what you can and cant say about (potential) transfers.

We cant really complain about Real madrid tactics if we talked about players such as hargreaves extensively and have (reportedly) commented about berba. I know they are completely different issues but nevertheless, im pretty sure i wouldnt appreciate it if i was a spurs fan.

With berba, it wasnt really so bad but im sure levy will make as much of a meal out of it as he can.

disclaimer: yes i know real madrid's tactics are on a completely different level but im just saying that we have used the media too in transfers.

Could this be Levy cleverly making a statement knowing full well that one, or possibly both of his key players will be sold? And is trying to pinch the last few million pounds out of both clubs...

I think this could perhaps be the alterior motive. I havent read anything official from liverpool about keane so i dont know why he is complaining about that too. Aswell as milking another few million from the clubs involved i think they might be trying to speed up a bidding war. Im sure levy would rather sell to barca than united and potentially have eto'o in return.