Sir Alex Ferguson has rejected out of hand a £6.8m offer
from Liverpool for Gabriel Heinze and told the unsettled Argentina
left-back that he will be allowed to leave Manchester United this
summer only for a club on the continent. Despite meeting United's
valuation of the 29-year-old, Liverpool have been told that there
is no prospect of Heinze becoming the first player for over 40
years to leave Old Trafford for their Anfield
rivals.
Indeed Ferguson has made it clear to United's chief executive,
David Gill, that he will not sanction any transfer to a domestic
rival. Gill said yesterday: "We have received a written offer from
Liverpool for Heinze and we have rejected that because it's
Liverpool. We wouldn't sell to Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea and we
have relayed that to the agent. "We have told him that in no
uncertain terms. If there was a significant offer from overseas we
would discuss that internally and discuss it with the player and
see what he wants." Real Madrid and Italian clubs have been closely
monitoring the Argentinian's situation.
Heinze had been predicted to exploit a new Fifa ruling allowing
players to buy out the final two years of their contract in order
to clinch a move away from United, but Gill insists that route is
now closed. "You can only use Fifa article 17 within 15 days of the
end of the season and you have to give notice within 15 days of the
end of the league season."