Heinze A No Go …
Times: Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, has categorically ruled out the possibility of Gabriel Heinze leaving the club to join Liverpool.
A £6 million offer from Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, was immediately rejected by United on Monday, despite the fact it met their valuation for the Argentine international. Ferguson then made it clear he will not allow the 29-year-old to become the first player since Phil Chisnall in 1962 to make the switch from Old Trafford to Merseyside.
“I can assure you, Liverpool will not be getting Gabriel Heinze,” Ferguson said. “We can put that to bed right now and we have done so. We have had a couple offers for him and we have turned them down.”
Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Newcastle United have also been linked with a move for the full back, who has become something of a folk hero among United fans in respect of his combative style and fierce commitment to the cause. His departure has long been mooted, however.
“Heinze’s agents are rolling the ball all the time,” Ferguson said. “But no matter what his agent thinks, we are in the driving seat. I don’t exactly know what Gaby thinks because it is all coming from his agent but this has been going on for a year and a half now.”
Sam Allardyce, the Newcastle manager, is a keen admirer fo the player, but believes he has little chance in luring the Argentina international to St James’ Park. “Heinze - if I wanted him, I don’t think he would come,” Allardyce said. “Certainly, if he got away from Manchester United, I’m not so sure that it wouldn’t be another club somewhere else in Europe rather than in this country.”
Heinze struggled to maintain his first-team place last season, finding himself regularly on the substitutes’ bench with France international Patrice Evra preferred in his favoured left-back role. He featured in United’s last three games of the season, however, captaining the side against Chelsea and West Ham United, and holding on to his place for the FA Cup final at Wembley,
The former Paris St Germain player is currently taking an extended break in the wake of his appearance at Copa America, and has not yet spoken directly with Ferguson about the situation. If he was keen on a move to Anfield, Heinze’s only opportunity would have been to buy out his United contract within two weeks of the end of last season - leaving United powerless to control his destination of departure. With that date passed, he chances of joining compatriot Javier Mascherano at Liverpool appear well and truly over.
Meanwhile, midfielder Owen Hargreaves could miss United’s four-match tour of the Far East. The England international has been suffering from tendinitis in his knee and is certain to miss tomorrow’s encounter with K-League outfit FC Seoul. The £18m signing from Bayern Munich was restricted to only light jogging in training yesterday.
Ferguson will face a tough decision upon the team’s return to England as to which players he risks playing in the club’s opening league fixture with Reading on August 12. “Once we get home, we have half a dozen games to play before the season starts,” he said. “Ideally, I would like everyone on tour to have got at least two games under their belt by the time we get back. With the ones who are injured (Hargreaves, Darron Gibson and Lee Martin) we have to make an assessment about how they are progressing and they may have to wait until we get home.”
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Guardian: 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.”
