Red Devil
Jul 17 2002, 04:47 PM
Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he will soon be forced to turn his attentions elsewhere if he cannot prise Rio Ferdinand away from Elland Road.
Manchester United have already failed with a £20 million bid for the Leeds captain, althogh the Yorkshire club maintain the 23-year-old is not for sale after rejecting the England defender's written transfer request on Wednesday.
The Manchester United manager said on MUTV: "It's ongoing. Nothing seems to be happening.
"Leeds are saying a lot of things which we have to take on board. We're running out of time so we have to do something quickly. Maybe we will have to move on somewhere."
However Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale would appear to have left the door open for a fresh United offer when he said as a plc, the Elland Road board would be duty-bound to consider a substantial bid for Ferdinand.
Ridsdale said: "We are a public company, I am merely an employee and I have a duty to shareholders to maximise the value of our assets.
"If we receive any reasonable offers for any of our players, including Rio, we will consider it and debate it but that is not the position at the moment.
United have not been in contact with Leeds since Ridsdale rejected Reds chief executive Peter Kenyon's offer - believed to be around the £20m mark - some weeks ago.
The Leeds chairman is cutting short a holiday and heading back to Yorkshire for showdown talks with Ferdinand on Thursday.
Alessandro Nesta, Roberto Ayala and Lilian Thuram are just three of the names that have been linked with a move to Old Trafford over the summer - and who may be receiving a follow-up call if there is no breakthrough in trans-Pennine negotiations.
Manchester United have already failed with a £20 million bid for the Leeds captain, althogh the Yorkshire club maintain the 23-year-old is not for sale after rejecting the England defender's written transfer request on Wednesday.
The Manchester United manager said on MUTV: "It's ongoing. Nothing seems to be happening.
"Leeds are saying a lot of things which we have to take on board. We're running out of time so we have to do something quickly. Maybe we will have to move on somewhere."
However Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale would appear to have left the door open for a fresh United offer when he said as a plc, the Elland Road board would be duty-bound to consider a substantial bid for Ferdinand.
Ridsdale said: "We are a public company, I am merely an employee and I have a duty to shareholders to maximise the value of our assets.
"If we receive any reasonable offers for any of our players, including Rio, we will consider it and debate it but that is not the position at the moment.
United have not been in contact with Leeds since Ridsdale rejected Reds chief executive Peter Kenyon's offer - believed to be around the £20m mark - some weeks ago.
The Leeds chairman is cutting short a holiday and heading back to Yorkshire for showdown talks with Ferdinand on Thursday.
Alessandro Nesta, Roberto Ayala and Lilian Thuram are just three of the names that have been linked with a move to Old Trafford over the summer - and who may be receiving a follow-up call if there is no breakthrough in trans-Pennine negotiations.