United await formal bid for unsettled Smith

MANCHESTER UNITED are still waiting to receive a formal offer for unsettled striker Alan Smith.

Although the wrangle over Carlos Tevez’s proposed move to Old Trafford is now heading for the High Court, United are working on the assumption that the Argentina striker will join them before the August 31 transfer deadline.

Tevez’s eventual arrival would cast a huge question mark over Smith’s future, especially as Alex Ferguson admitting the limited number of games he would be able to offer the £6m former Leeds striker is likely to be a major problem.

Middlesbrough are among a number of clubs to make an informal inquiry for Smith. In fact, contact with United by a number of parties has been frequent, the latest arriving in the form of a text to the phone of chief executive David Gill in China yesterday.

However, so far, brief discussions have led to nothing concrete, leaving Smith to return from United’s four-match Far East tour after today’s concluding encounter with Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals not knowing where he will start the new campaign.

Meanwhile United are hoping security around tonight’s game is an improvement on their training stint, when fans poured on to the perimeter running track, forcing Ferguson’s men to make a hasty exit until order was eventually restored. Ferguson has already confirmed China international Dong Fangzhou will feature during the first-half, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney are certain to be given another chance to delight their adoring public.

Meanwhile, Ferguson has labelled Liverpool “opportunists” over their bid for Gabriel Heinze.

Liverpool are thought to have bid around £7m for United’s Argentina defender – meeting a valuation agreed by letter between player and club – but Ferguson has refused to do business with rival boss Rafael Benitez.

The prospect of legal action remains in the air as the Spaniard seeks to push the deal through but Ferguson is in no doubt that, as a contracted United player, Heinze will be going nowhere without the his say so.

Meanwhile, the 65-year-old also conceded he had been interested in signing Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, who swapped Atletico Madrid for Merseyside in £20m move this summer.