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發表於 2006-6-15 09:38 PM
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Tottenham resigned to losing Carrick
Manchester United were on the point of completing the signing of Michael Carrick last night after submitting an improved offer of £15 million to Tottenham.
The Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, had fiercely resisted the sale of a man his manager, Martin Jol, said he could not afford to lose. However, despite a last-ditch attempt to offer the 24-year-old improved terms on a contract that still has two years to run, the board at White Hart Lane now accept he will almost certainly leave for Old Trafford.
Levy's anger will be soothed by the realisation that his club will make a profit of more than £12 million on a player signed from West Ham less than two years ago.
Before United submitted an offer they probably knew Tottenham could not turn down, Jol attempted to put pressure on Carrick by saying in a radio interview that he owed the club another season. "Michael knows that when he came to our club Pedro Mendes was playing in his position and Mendes is a terrific player but I made a choice for Michael. He made progress so he owes the club."
There is a certain irony that the deal neared acceptance on the day Roy Keane announced his retirement from football. Finding a replacement for his greatest captain has been the most significant failing of Sir Alex Ferguson's transfer policy in recent years.
The faith that the Manchester United manager invested in Kleberson, who won a World Cup with Brazil but few friends at Old Trafford, and Eric Djemba-Djemba proved badly misplaced. In the end, Ferguson was forced to employ Alan Smith; a man he said should only ever be used as a centre-forward when he arrived from Leeds, as a reasonably effective central midfielder. The fact that Smith suffered a broken leg in the FA Cup defeat at Liverpool that will keep him out until September meant there could be no further mistakes in filling this position.
Signing Carrick may cost rather more than United had hoped but it will work out cheaper than pursuing the most obvious alternative, Mahamadou Diarra, whom the Lyon chairman, Jean-Michel Aulas, claimed would cost more than the £24 million Chelsea paid for Michael Essien. |
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發表於 2006-6-15 09:47 PM
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