‘Sign your contract’, irritated Alex tells Ferdinand
The Manchester United manager’s obvious irritation at Ferdinand being pictured in a London restaurant dining with Peter Kenyon has only been heightened by further revelations that the £29.1million defender actually spent substantially more time with the Chelsea chief executive than was initially thought.
Aside from fuelling his belief the Blues are not quite as innocent as their public statements insisting they have no interest in Ferdinand would have people believe, Ferguson also appears frustrated by his player putting himself into such a compromising situation when negotiations over a contract extension are reaching a critical stage.
“The best thing Rio can do is sign his contract and put this matter put to bed,” said Ferguson.
“He has said he wants to sign for the club.... well he has got the opportunity to do just that.”
Suspicions about an ulterior motive behind Ferdinand’s ‘chance meeting’ with one-time United chief executive Kenyon have only been heightened by the fresh demands of ‘super agent’ Pini Zahavi, who has acted for the England star throughout his career.
Zahavi, who claimed he was handing Ferdinand some important documents when the player gatecrashed his meal with Kenyon at the plush Carpaccio restaurant in London just hours after United’s embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Norwich on April 9, is said to be demanding £120,000 a week for the man he regards as the best defender in the world.
Such a figure would represent a 70% increase on Ferdinand’s present £3.5million-a-year deal, which is not due to expire until 2007.
Even a club of United’s size would baulk at paying out such a huge sum and, although Ferguson undoubtedly views Ferdinand as a major component of his squad and a long-term successor to Roy Keane as skipper, holding out for such a salary hike could yet backfire on the 26-year-old.
Some United fans have never taken to Ferdinand, and Ferguson’s comments will strike a chord with the majority of supporters, who feel it is the player who should be giving something back to the club given their decision to stand by him during his eight-month ban for a missed drugs test.
Ferguson added: “We have offered him a good deal, had a nice meeting with him on Friday and I thought we made good progress.
“Hopefully something can be done in the next few days.”
The return of Red Devils chief executive David Gill from a G14 meeting in Italy yesterday should provide fresh impetus to the negotiations, which formally continued at United’s Carrington training ground last Friday.
However, unless Ferdinand indicates he is willing to climb down from his vast opening demand, Ferguson’s hopes of an early resolution to the matter are not likely to be realised.
Neither does the Scot seem set to get his way on the belief there should be an official Premier League inquiry into the meeting between Kenyon, Zahavi and Ferdinand, who is due to play for United against Everton at Goodison Park tonight.
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