Gill:
"Our position is very clear on Gabriel Heinze and it has not changed.
"We have not received any bids in writing from anyone other than Liverpool.
"Gaby is due back next week. He is a contracted player for two years and unless we receive an offer which is acceptable to us as a club, he will remain with us.
"We are very comfortable with that."
Benitez:
"A lot of clubs, in many different countries, knew what the situation was.
"I don't know what the problem is. We made an offer, they rejected it. I know what they're saying to the press but everyone in the world knows they signed a document."
"I was clear. We sent an offer. They rejected the offer and now the lawyers need to talk.
"I think it is the agent [to instruct lawyers]. Everybody knows the situation now. We will wait. We will see what happens."
The Guardian:
A leading sports law specialist suspects that Liverpool could prove powerless to wrest Gabriel Heinze away from Manchester United. The Argentina left-back still has two years remaining on his contract at Old Trafford and United are refusing to sell him to their close Premiership rivals and north-west neighbours.
"I'd love to know what on earth Liverpool can actually do to require Manchester United to give up their rights under their contract with Heinze," said Peter Goodman, a partner in SA Law of St Albans. Heinze and Liverpool appear to be basing their case on a letter Heinze says Manchester United gave him, stating that he can leave Old Trafford should any other club offer a sum in the region of £6m-£7m.
Meanwhile David Gill, United's chief executive, says this document is "meaningless" - and particularly in the context of Heinze potentially leaving for a principal domestic adversary - arguing that Sir Alex Ferguson would never have countenanced the possibility of such a move.
"Unfortunately we don't know the content of that letter but Liverpool's chances of signing Heinze almost certainly depend on the detail within that note and whether it can be construed as a legally binding commitment to sell him to anyone who offers £6m. The key question is does it replace the original contract," added Goodman, who doubts whether a club as legally savvy as United would have furnished a player with a document worded sufficiently strongly to supersede a key part of his original agreement.
"From what United are saying it seems the letter is not a commitment to sell him. If so, it is difficult to see how Liverpool can succeed," he said. Goodman also explained that Heinze spurned an opportunity, under Fifa regulations, to buy himself out of his contract during a five-week "grace period" at the end of the season when football's ruling body offers restless but contracted players an escape clause, albeit at a price. "One option for Heinze would have been to buy himself out of his contract in accordance with Fifa regulations but he has left it too late, the deadline has passed," said Goodman.
The Liverpool manager, Rafael Benítez, however, remains determined to continue his legal battle. He confirmed he has called in Liverpool's lawyers to try to extricate Heinze from the final two years of his Old Trafford contract, leaving Ferguson facing a possible High Court battle.
Ferguson mounted an angry response to Benítez's move to bring in the lawyers by accusing the player's representatives of going behind the champions' back to try to force the deal through. Benítez refused to be drawn further into the dispute: "I do not want to say any more about that."