TOTTENHAM chairman Daniel Levy has accused Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson of "sheer arrogance" and "hypocrisy" over his pursuit of star striker Dimitar Berbatov.
Spurs have made a complaint to the Premier League over United's bid to lure Berbatov and Liverpool's attempts to sign Robbie Keane, branding the conduct of both clubs "disgraceful" and claiming they have "systematically been working to prise the pla
yers away from us".
Ferguson confirmed yesterday that United – infuriated by Real Madrid's public pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo this summer – have made a bid for Berbatov and that he expects the deal to go through eventually.
Spurs have also been angered by the comments of Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who went public last week by revealing Republic of Ireland captain Keane as a target for the Reds.
On the Spurs official website, Levy stated: "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.
"The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful . . .
I have absolutely no wish to sell either player,
but when a player's head is turned and their commitment is absent, they become a negative influence in a team dressing- room in which they were once a positive addition and influence."
The full article contains 318 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
