BIZARRE LOVE TRIANGLE
Here's what happened over the now-infamous 'Keano replacement' midfielder issue which Fergie has been addressing publicly again in the last few days. Agents Willie McKay and Mike Morris [the latter being the infamous Monaco operative and mate of Jason Ferguson who attracted the attention of the Sunday Times Insight investigation unit] have been debriefed by colleagues. McKay is less than happy with Fergie, after Sir Alex let it be known a month ago he'd definitely be keen on Man City's Joey Barton 'should he become available'.
So on the eve of the transfer deadline, having first roped in Morris to help [as McKay has no experience of MUFC deals] Fergie was contacted anew about the transfer-demanding Barton, only for Fergie to say he was "no longer interested". The reason given? That the target United have earmarked for the summer is now "in the bag", whereas it was still unfinalised in December. Some think this target might be Diarra of Lyons, and the Mirror stood this up enough to print it a few weeks ago. Lyons are of course keen on Frenchmen Mickey and Saha, the former admitting on Sunday that Houllier had been in for him this very window.
Morris then admitted to McKay that he [Morris] was "expecting to be involved" in United's summer deal. This would also point to a French-based deal, although Morris does also have decent Serie A ties which he tried to use to get Keane to Italy. Some think that the target may in fact still be Oliver Kapo, currently at Monaco [nudge nudge] who claimed in L'Equipe last Friday night that he had been 24 hours away from joining United last Monday.
And what happened to that Kapo move? Well, you may recall that Barca's Ludovic Giuly announced his desire to quit the Nou Camp a few weeks back (mainly because, in the build up to the World Cup, he's concerned at spending so much time on the bench due to Messi's meteoric rise). Our guys in the French press were convinced that he was going to return to former club Monaco on loan but Rijkaard intervened at the last moment.
So one change-of-mind later and Monaco were no longer willing to let Kapo leave. Cue a furious Kapo and, one expects, a miffed Fergie who, having snubbed Barton, is now left with nothing until June. Meanwhile Barton and McKay spent Monday night in a Manchester hotel desperately trying - and failing - to find him another club."
So on the eve of the transfer deadline, having first roped in Morris to help [as McKay has no experience of MUFC deals] Fergie was contacted anew about the transfer-demanding Barton, only for Fergie to say he was "no longer interested". The reason given? That the target United have earmarked for the summer is now "in the bag", whereas it was still unfinalised in December. Some think this target might be Diarra of Lyons, and the Mirror stood this up enough to print it a few weeks ago. Lyons are of course keen on Frenchmen Mickey and Saha, the former admitting on Sunday that Houllier had been in for him this very window.
Morris then admitted to McKay that he [Morris] was "expecting to be involved" in United's summer deal. This would also point to a French-based deal, although Morris does also have decent Serie A ties which he tried to use to get Keane to Italy. Some think that the target may in fact still be Oliver Kapo, currently at Monaco [nudge nudge] who claimed in L'Equipe last Friday night that he had been 24 hours away from joining United last Monday.
And what happened to that Kapo move? Well, you may recall that Barca's Ludovic Giuly announced his desire to quit the Nou Camp a few weeks back (mainly because, in the build up to the World Cup, he's concerned at spending so much time on the bench due to Messi's meteoric rise). Our guys in the French press were convinced that he was going to return to former club Monaco on loan but Rijkaard intervened at the last moment.
So one change-of-mind later and Monaco were no longer willing to let Kapo leave. Cue a furious Kapo and, one expects, a miffed Fergie who, having snubbed Barton, is now left with nothing until June. Meanwhile Barton and McKay spent Monday night in a Manchester hotel desperately trying - and failing - to find him another club."