Heinze: Rafa Will Wait …
Sky: Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is willing to wait for a resolution to the Gabriel Heinze saga.
The Manchester United defender is being allowed to leave Old Trafford for around £6million, but Sir Alex Ferguson is adamant he will not be joining Liverpool.
Ferguson does not want to sell Heinze to United’s Premier League rivals and now lawyers are trying to force a deal.
Heinze wants to move to The Reds in order to secure more regular first-team football, and Benitez will continue his pursuit of the Argentine left-back.
“We sent in an offer, they rejected the offer. Now the lawyers need to talk,” Benitez told Sky Sports.
“The agent (has called in the lawyers) because everybody knows the situation all around the world.
“We will wait, we will see what happens.”
Manchester United, meanwhile, are investigating whether Liverpool’s contact with Heinze’s representatives could constitute an illegal approach.
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M.E.N : LIVERPOOL boss Rafael Benitez has claimed every major club in Europe knew Gabriel Heinze was up for sale this summer.
A huge row has erupted over the Manchester United defender’s future after Liverpool matched the Red Devils’ £6.8million asking price, only to have the bid rejected.
If that was not enough, Sir Alex Ferguson forcibly stated there was ‘no chance’ of Heinze moving to Anfield, hinting United were investigating the possibility that Liverpool had made an illegal approach for the player.
Yet Benitez, a relative newcomer to spats between the fierce north-west rivals, cannot understand what the fuss is about.
The Liverpool coach, like every other major club in Europe he claims, received documentation, signed by a senior United official, confirming Heinze’s availability.
“A lot of clubs, in many different countries, knew what the situation was,” he said.
“I do not know what the problem is. We made an offer, they rejected it. I know what they are saying to the press but everyone in the world knows they (United) signed a document.”
Benitez is clearly still interested in making Heinze the first player to switch directly between United and Liverpool since Phil Chisnall moved to Merseyside in 1964.
Privately, he feels United have made a mistake in not lodging their opposition to Heinze moving to Liverpool in the official documentation and the current procrastination from the Old Trafford outfit - based 40 miles across the South China Sea in Macau - is merely an elaborate attempt to make up for their mistake.
The matter now appears to rest with Heinze and his lawyers, with the 29-year-old, who is expected back in training within a fortnight, left to decide whether to launch a legal fight against his current employers.
