Sport

Spurs report United and Liverpool
by Richard Field, 18 July 2008

Spurs report United and Liverpool

Tottenham have reported Manchester United and Liverpool to The Premier League over the conduct in their pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane respectively.

The Premier League champions have confirmed they have made a bid for Berbatov, while Spurs have been stung into action again by Rafael Benitez, who announced last week in public that he wanted to sign Keane.

The Spaniard caused Tottenham displeasure when he said in 2006 that Spurs were ‘desperate’ to sell Jermaine Defoe and take Djibril Cisse.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has issued a statement on the club’s website which read: "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 rules.

"As a result, we have today made an official complaint to the Premier League about the conduct of Manchester United.

"Benitez made similar comments in respect of Robbie recently and we made an official complaint to the Premier League 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.”

Another part of the statement read: "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 a 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 United and Liverpool respectively."

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Comments

Anti scouser!! - 20 July 2008 17:43: So if Ronaldo played for Derby they would of won the double. 11 Players on the field.. Hipocrites you worship torres and gerrard. If i said Liverpool were nothing with out Gerrard? everyteam has an exceptional player. One more and you wont be the most succesful club anymore.. Try winning the premier league and stop talking about the old league.. Arrogant losers; Report this to a moderator

Ben - 19 July 2008 13:21: yeh that joke was really funny ... not, as if noone has ever done that before !; Report this to a moderator

tom moville-lfc - 19 July 2008 13:06: ronaldo fc did well to win the double last season,but it will be a different story this season with ronaldo on his way to real madrid,even if he doesnt go to his favourite club to fufil his dream he will be a different player,he clearly has no commitment to united so why would he show desire on the pitch so united will suffer anyway,ronaldos goals proved vital in soo many games last season and no ammount of good purchases will be able to replace what he brings to the team,i hear names such as benzema and ben afra being thrown around when clearly they are not up to ronaldos standards.LIVERPOOL FC will win the premiership next season,i feel finally they have a good balance of youthful players such as lucas and agger and experienced players such as stevie g and carra and the worlds best striker fernando t and with a few good signings such as david silva and proven prem striker robbie keane liverpool will be a dominants force in the domestice cups once again.; Report this to a moderator

Robbie keane - 19 July 2008 12:01: Firstly i would like to thank Liverpool for showing interest in me however i am under contract at White hart lane and feel that i still have plenty to do here. The fans are great to me and we can build on last seasons cup success.The fact that key international players have come in shows the managers determination to succeed, and i want to be a part of this revolution.; Report this to a moderator

LFC 5 times and most succesful english team !!! 5 european cups ! 18 leagues !! - 19 July 2008 11:38: hahaha, are people now aloud to say who they want to sign anymore without being accused of tapping up players ? obv not cause when its a tottenham player they go crying to the FA "oh are players being tapped up please do something" because they have to complain the the FA because they arent succesful enough or a good enough side to keep players like keane and berbatov so they have to get the FA to help out ! united are nothing without ronaldo take away them 40 goals last season and they would of never won the title ! Noone wants to play for arsenal cause they have the worst fans in the world with chelsea not far behind there quiet, have lame chants and only sing them when there wining if there drawing or losing there quiet and boo there team. Chelsea's history is nothing they would still be a uefa cup team with the money of roman abramovich. Villa think there a big side now but there really not come back and say your a big side when your won the champions league !; Report this to a moderator

LFC 5 times and most succesful english team !!! 5 european cups ! 18 leagues !! - 19 July 2008 11:37: hahaha, are people now aloud to say who they want to sign anymore without being accused of tapping up players ? obv not cause when its a tottenham player they go crying to the FA "oh are players being tapped up please do something" because they have to complain the the FA because they arent succesful enough or a good enough side to keep players like keane and berbatov so they have to get the FA to help out ! united are nothing without ronaldo take away them 40 goals last season and they would of never won the title ! Noone wants to play for arsenal cause they have the worst fans in the world with chelsea not far behind there quiet, have lame chants and only sing them when there wining if there drawing or losing there quiet and boo there team. Chelsea's history is nothing they would still be a uefa cup team with the money of roman abramovich. Villa think there a big side now but there really not come back and say your a big side when your won the champions league !; Report this to a moderator

Alpesh - 19 July 2008 11:08: This bald head is just pretending as if he doesnt want to do business,Spurs are clever with this kind of stuff,they have been doing business by buying young promissing players and sell them after they get older and recognised..Whatever they say but if United or Liverpool makes a better offer they will sell them that is the reason they are there to be sold after becoming stars for profites..lets move one and stop complaining,United arent desperate for him,there are others who can fill the gap..; Report this to a moderator

kieran - 19 July 2008 10:06: Benitez did the same with barry and then david villa and robbie keane he can`t keep his mouth shut.Having said that harry redknapp is by far the worst for "tapping up" via the media and never gets pulled up on it at all.; Report this to a moderator

Guy - 19 July 2008 10:01: Well maybe Sir Alex Ferguson is a hypocrite, but he only mentioned Berbatov's name AFTER making a formal bid. People seem to forget Daniel Levy's own dogged, shambolic and even embarrassing pursuit of Juande Ramos last season. Who really is the hypocrite? This latest outburst from the Spurs chairman is a negotiating tactic to try and get the transfer fee he wants for the two players period! Nothing else to it.; Report this to a moderator

Gruh - 19 July 2008 09:32: Waaa is right. Fergie does not speak without making bid, but Calderon does that. He says every day that he will pay 70 million pounds for Ronaldo but till now there is no concrete offer just bla, bla, bla. I think with Ronaldo i Berba United never lose. Whole Bulgaria prays for transfer of Berba at Old Traford when he will show his quality and will get The Golden Ball next season. Hope, Man Un will remain Europe champions in spite of no team had kept CHL till now.; Report this to a moderator

mick - 19 July 2008 08:35: This makes me laugh the whole fiasco! I'm a spurs fan and it's the same old s**t every pre-season as Follows - Fergie tapping up players and nothing being done why? Hence the SIR before his name and that he is the nearest thing to an english man so he is favoured by the PL & FA not just on this but many other wrong doings!!! Then we have the gang of levy and co crying wolfe about the players involved have been turned, we all know its bullshit at that they were going to be cashed in just like Carrick was!! Great smoke screen hey, lets see if Levy says no full-stop i doubt it .; Report this to a moderator

Fil - 19 July 2008 08:01: Levy is a very clever man indeed. This is a blatant attempt on his and the boards part to absolve themselves of any blame for Keane and Berbatov leaving and clearly it has worked. If the Spurs fans thought the board were willing to sell two of their best players to teams that they are trying to catch there would have been uproar amongst their fans. So instead of admitting that the club would consider selling both players he has made Benitez and Ferguson out to be the scapegoats reported both clubs even though Spurs never once gave an indication the players were not for sale. Even Ramos's comments yesterday back this up. Wake up Spurs fans, Levy was always willing to sell, he just didnt want spurs fans to think so.; Report this to a moderator

davy - 19 July 2008 07:49: adam en all the other nutcrackers better stop dreaming...have u ever heard Sir Alex pricing Ronaldo..???...Tottenham did so....have u ever heard Sir Alex saying He will have to sale Ronaldo to balance the books..???..Juande Ramos did just that....Sir Alex has actually tabled a bid for a player who is on sale while Madrid ar shamelessly courting a player who is not on sale publicly en they have not tabled a bid up to date..so all those IDIOTS talking trash against Sir Alex playing double standards should think twice before opening their smelly mouths..one thing for sure is that Berbatov en Keano can't afford to miss CL football for another season again....so like it or not ...Berbatov is leaving coz He LOVES Man U DEARLY en their is no stopping Him or selling Him to another team other than Man U coz He will resist tha way Ronaldinho by going to AC Milan instead of Man City who had offered more cash...VIVA MAN U....; Report this to a moderator

Ben Jones - 19 July 2008 06:58: Fergie in the past has sent players Man Utd shirts for their birthday's etc (Mexes) He is the worst of the the lot. Spurs, Liverpool and Man Utd have no class these days when it comes to these matters. And yes Spurs and the way they acted towards Bostock was just as bad.; Report this to a moderator

Dave - 19 July 2008 03:21: As a Spurs fan I dont really have too much of a problem with Alex Ferguson's comments, Berbatov has made it clear since last summer that he wanted out. Robbie Keane has never indicated this, in fact did he not say he would like to remain at Spurs til the end of his career. Benitez' comments have changed this so he should be the only one that has questions to answer. First Barry, now Keane. Fair enough, players should be allowed to move to another club to further there career but the way Benitez has gone about his approach for these players has left a very sour taste.; Report this to a moderator

Adam - 19 July 2008 00:58: typical of man u & pool 2 tap up players but moan wen 1 of theirs hope berba goes barca n ron goes madrid n keane stays with us!; Report this to a moderator

Sim - 19 July 2008 00:30: Put Berba, Keane, Adebore & the Slave all on a boat to Canada where they can play for the Toronto Mosse Heads.; Report this to a moderator

waaa - 18 July 2008 23:56: how is fergie a hypocite??? fergie actually has made a bid for the player....real never made any bids for ronaldo so shut your face; Report this to a moderator

Ian Lawn - 18 July 2008 23:14: Footballs gone mad!!! Well the off field politics has. Let's get on with the new season; Report this to a moderator

JIMBOB - 18 July 2008 23:05: I'M A liverpool fan but I really don't like the way Rafa has been doing this type of business. Its a cyncial tactic employed by managers at top clubs. Fergie is probably more guilty as he said he was confident of signing Berbatov whereas Rafa has just said robbie is a target and "we will see". People should also remember that it happens at all levels of football. Harry Redknapp publicly pursued Peter Crouch as did a few other gaffers. It is differentt when a big4 do it though. It destabalises the clubs around them and if I was a spurs or villa fan i'd be hating benitez and Fergie. It may be bad for the game - but Fergie and Rafa dont care.; Report this to a moderator

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Spurs report United and Liverpool
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Spurs report United and Liverpool
by Richard Field, 18 July 2008