The battle for Barclays Premier League supremacy is over for another season, but the war between Rafael Benítez and Sir Alex Ferguson continues. Benítez, the Liverpool manager, pointedly refused yesterday to congratulate his Manchester United counterpart on winning the championship and is preparing to anger Ferguson by opening negotiations to lure Carlos Tévez from Old Trafford.
Relations between the pair broke down over the course of a title race that ended on Saturday with United crowned for the eighteenth time, equalling Liverpool’s proud record. Speaking after Liverpool condemned West Bromwich Albion to relegation yesterday with a 2-0 win at The Hawthorns — a match that featured an angry exchange between team-mates Jamie Carragher and Álvaro Arbeloa — Benítez offered praise to United but not to Ferguson.
“I will say congratulations to Manchester United,” Benítez said. “They have done well, but I do not want to say too much. Normally you have to be polite and respect the other manager. During the season we have seen a lot of things I didn’t like, so that’s it.”
Benítez was criticised by some for his tirade about Ferguson in January, but their relationship was damaged beyond repair when the Scot accused the Spaniard of showing “arrogance” and “contempt” with a harmless-looking gesture during Liverpool’s victory over Blackburn Rovers last month.
The hostility from Ferguson may have fuelled Benítez’s desire to exploit the uncertainty over Tévez, who staged what appeared to be an emotional farewell to United supporters during Saturday’s celebrations. Ferguson has not abandoned hope of securing the striker’s future after his two-year lease arrangement expires at the end of the season, but Tévez is intent on leaving. He will open formal contract negotiations with Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea, as well as Real Madrid and the two Milan clubs, after the Champions League final against Barcelona next week.
Asked whether he hoped to sign Tévez permanently, David Gill, the United chief executive, said: “If it can be structured correctly, yes. When we did our deal to acquire Carlos two years ago his economic rights were owned by a company controlled by Kia Joorabchian. We had to pay a lease fee [] for two years and then we have a fixed fee which we have to pay to his company if we wish to take up our option to acquire Carlos.” United have been told that the additional £24 million fee to make the deal permanent is non-negotiable.
Gill is more bullish about United’s prospects of retaining Cristiano Ronaldo’s services. “He is a fantastic player and any footballer would recognise that . . . he would have more chance of winning things at Manchester United than at Real Madrid,” Gill said.
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