Manchester United's chief executive David Gill have said:
'From Manchester United's perspective, Tevez was never on the
shopping list. Mascherano we watched closely and very carefully and
the experts on that area in our club determined that we did not
want to go for him.'
United have refused to rule out making another bid for Bayern
Munich's Owen Hargreaves in January.
Gill admitted their interest in the midfielder, who played a
starring role in England's 5-0 defeat of Andorra at Old Trafford
yesterday, would persist despite Bayern's refusal to sell this
summer.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek show: 'Owen was on record as
being very interested in coming to us and we were clearly very
interested in Owen.
'He is a player we have had on the list for quite a while,
actually.
'Obviously Bayern were very keen - and are very keen - to keep him.
We will have to see.
'If that situation does not change, then obviously we will not
acquire Owen.
'But Bayern have indicated to me that they will let us know if the
situation changes and at that point, we hopefully can consummate a
deal.
'These things do not just happen on January 1, one has discussions
around the year on these particular transactions.'
Gill's comments came amid criticism from fans that the club were
not active enough towards the end of the transfer window as both
Chelsea and Arsenal strengthened.
However, having invested heavily in midfielder Michael Carrick and
goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak following the arrivals of Nemanja Vidic
and Patrice Evra in January, Gill defended the club's
activity.
He said: 'We understand the frustration of fans, who feel we should
have been more active.
'But we are very conscious that the quality in our squad is very
high and therefore the players we bring in must add to that
quality, they must be defined as reasonably valued and very
critically, we believe, they must want to be a Manchester United
player.
'They are the players we are interested in.'
Gill, who insisted the club had not tried to sign France striker
David Trezeguet from Juventus, further promised the cash which had
not been spent this summer would be available to manager Sir Alex
Ferguson in January and beyond.
He said: 'Our transfer policy evolves according to what the manager
wants and the budget will allow.
'It is important to know just because we have not spent the money
we had anticipated in this window, that money is not lost.
'That money will be carried forward, those funds will be available
for the right player at the right time.
'I do not think our policy has changed at all.'
Meanwhile, United expect to sit down with star striker Wayne Rooney
and thrash out a new long-term contract within the next few
months.
The 20-year-old is currently two years into a six-year deal, but
both he and his employers have shown a willingness to extend that
sooner rather than later.
Gill said: 'He is a key player for us and his eagerness to sign a
long-term deal is great.
'I think there will be developments on that in the course of the
next two or three months.
'We want to sit down and tie him to the club for longer, and really
importantly for us and for our fans, he wants to do that.'
