Tottenham have lodged an official complaint to the Premier League over the
conduct of Manchester United and Liverpool in their pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov
and Robbie Keane.
Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed United have made a bid for Berbatov and
eventually expects the deal to go through.
Spurs have also been angered by the comments of Liverpool manager Rafael
Benitez, who went public last week by revealing the Republic of Ireland captain
as a target.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy tonight issued the following statement on his club's
official website: '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.
'Both clubs arrogantly chose to ignore this request and we now have evidence
that both clubs have systematically been working to prise the players away from
us, outside of Premier League rules of conduct.
'Our subsequent position has been severely compromised by both clubs making
their intentions widely known and indeed making contact with the players and
their agents, without the club's permission.
'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 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 Utd and Liverpool
respectively.
'Irrespective of the outcome and futures of Robbie and Dimitar, we are
continuing to seek to bring in quality, talented players for the future, who
want to play in a Spurs shirt.'
Benitez and Spurs have clashed before, in March 2006, when the Liverpool boss
claimed Spurs were 'desperate' to sell Jermain Defoe and take Djibril Cisse.
It led to Benitez's professionalism being questioned by Spurs officials, and
the latest fall-out is unlikely to help the relationship between the clubs.
Aston Villa had already been upset this summer by Benitez's comments regarding
Gareth Barry's potential move to Anfield.
However, Ferguson believes it will be 'very embarrassing' for Tottenham if
they decide to carry out their threat to report Manchester United to the Premier
League.
Old Trafford boss Ferguson maintains he never mentioned anyone by name
when he revealed they had tabled a bid for a player.
Ferguson claims his remarks were misreported by a national newspaper and that
United may now bring in their legal team.
Speaking after the 1-1 draw against Kaizer Chiefs in the Vodacom Challenge in
South Africa, he said: 'It is going to be very embarrassing for them
(Tottenham).
'But you know what Daniel Levy is like. He is different.'
