Sir Alex Ferguson Urges Inquiry Into Tottenham's Signing of Zeki Fryers: The Nightly EPL

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson came out on the offensive Friday to criticize Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy over the Spurs signing of Zeki Fryers, a former Manchester United youth academy footballer.

Ferguson is incensed that Tottenham signed the player from Standard Liege in Belgium. Tottenham tried to sign the 20-year-old footballer in the summer, but got turned down. If the transfer had been made, Spurs would have had to pay approximately £5m-£6m through a Premier League tribunal. Instead, the player decided to move to Belgium in the summer for a transfer believed to be around £250,000.

Tottenham is believed to have signed Zeki Fryers from Standard Liege today for approximately £900,000.

Here’s what Ferguson said regarding the transfer:

“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. And then all of a sudden he signed for Standard Liège and at that moment in time, when I heard that, I expected him to go to Tottenham in the January window.

“I’m disappointed in Tottenham. 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.”

Here are tonight’s Premier League news headlines:

• Sir Alex Ferguson urges inquiry into Tottenham’s signing of Zeki Fryers — The Guardian
• Arsenal have become a selling club says Edwin Van der Sar — BBC Sport
• West Ham owner’s son apologizes on Twitter for Marouane Chamakh signing — Dirty Tackle
• Tottenham steal a march on Arsenal to sign Schalke’s Lewis Holtby — The Guardian
• QPR jump ahead of Newcastle in the race for £10m Loïc Rémy — The Independent
• Arsenal’s Marouane Chamakh joins West Ham on loan — The Guardian
• Liverpool full-back Jose Enrique out for six weeks — The Independent
• Arsène Wenger sees FA Cup as chance for Arsenal to end trophy drought — The Guardian
• Sporting Kansas City’s Graham Zusi is set to train at West Ham — Yanks Abroad
• FA Cup third-round team news — The Guardian
• Roger Espinoza set for Wigan debut against Bournemouth — The Mail
• Our FA Cup memories | Guardian Sport writers — The Guardian
• Arsene Wenger to play strong Arsenal team with FA Cup ambitions in mind — The Independent
• Joe Cole set to face Man Utd in FA Cup tie tomorrow — The Guardian
• The Football Attic Podcast Episode 4 – Subbuteo Special — Football Attic
• Paul Lambert says he does not expect to sell Darren Bent or any other players in window — BBC Sport
• John Terry forced to backtrack on Lampard Chelsea exit claims — The Guardian
• ‘Collapsed’ pitch at Old Trafford set to be replaced this summer — The Independent
• Fulham’s Martin Jol delighted with capture of highly-rated Chris David — The Guardian
• What makes Dish Network the worst company to work for in America? — The Verge
• Fan who confronted Rio Ferdinand given three-year football ban — The Independent
• Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard will be spared FA Cup trip to Mansfield — The Guardian

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