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The 2013 Tottenham transfer which enraged Sir Alex Ferguson, Man Utd boss ordered Premier League to ‘look into it’
Manchester United and Tottenham have been involved in each other’s respective transfer windows so far this summer.
Both Spurs and the Red Devils are jostling to sign Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford after the Cameroon international bagged 20 Premier League goals last season.
It remains to be seen what happens with that saga, but Manchester United and Tottenham both clashed over a different transfer back in 2013 in a situation that infuriated Sir Alex Ferguson – so much so that he even called out Daniel Levy directly.
Why Tottenham’s capture of Zeki Fryers left Sir Alex Ferguson livid
Back in the summer of 2012, Zeki Fryers spent the summer training with Tottenham after failing to agree a new contract at Manchester United – where he had played since 2009 after joining the academy from Fletcher Moss Rangers.
As a result of the fact Manchester United developed the left-back and he was still under the age of 23 at the time, they would have been owed compensation from Spurs had he signed for the north Londoners.
Standard Liege were also keen on Fryers, and given the Belgian outfit are not based in the United Kingdom, they were exempt from this compensation rule, and the defender promptly signed a two-year contract with the Pro League side after Tottenham and Manchester United failed to agree on a fee.
However, just six months later, the Manchester-born talent moved to Tottenham in January 2013 in a £900,000 deal, considerably less than the £5m compensation fee Manchester United wanted.
Ferguson – who once substituted himself on for Manchester United in a friendly – was furious, feeling that Spurs had found a workaround to avoid compensating the Red Devils for their part in his development.
What Sir Alex Ferguson said, and how Tottenham responded
The quoted the Glaswegian as saying: “I am disappointed in Tottenham, I really am. I think it has been a blatant manipulation of the situation. They tried to buy him from us at the end of last season but we couldn’t agree terms. They then took him on trial and took him to Portugal with the squad and came back and said that they couldn’t afford him. Then all of a sudden he signed for Standard Liege and at that moment in time, when I heard that, I expected him to go to Tottenham in the January window.
“The Premier League should look into it and I think they should stop the registration until they examine it. There will be a trail, mobile phone (records) or something. It is obvious to me (what has happened).
“It’s a Daniel Levy deal. You know, it’s his fingerprints all over it. It’s the kind of thing we expected he was going to do.”
Tottenham pleaded their innocence, with a spokesperson telling the Guardian: “Zeki was out of contract (with Manchester United) in the summer. We had looked into the possibility of signing the player but were unable to agree a deal on the terms Manchester United were asking.
“Zeki chose to go to Standard Liege, who paid compensation to Manchester United. Zeki enjoyed his time at Standard. However when they sacked their manager (Ron Jans) in November, Zeki was not part of the new manager’s plans, which he accepts and understands happens in football.
“Unfortunately, a combination of this and the fact he had become homesick meant he wanted to return to England. His representatives made contact with clubs in England and this afforded us a second opportunity to sign the player. As per FIFA’s solidarity contribution mechanism, Manchester United will receive 5% of the transfer fee we have paid.”
Ultimately, it was much ado about nothing.
Fryers made just 16 appearances for Tottenham before he was sold to Crystal Palace in a £3m deal in September 2014, failing to live up to his vast potential, and is now playing for Eskilstuna in Sweden at the age of 32.