Spurs lodge complaint against Man U and Liverpool

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Tottenham have lodged an official complaint to the Premier League over the conduct of Manchester United and Liverpool in their pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane.

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed United have made a bid for Berbatov and eventually expects the deal to go through.

Spurs have also been angered by the comments of Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who went public last week by revealing the Republic of Ireland captain as a target.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy tonight issued the following statement on his club's official website: 'Today's public comments by Manchester United's manager, announcing that he has made an offer for Dimitar and is confident that the deal will go through with time working in their favour, is a blatant example of sheer arrogance and interference with one of our players.

'It is also probably one of the worst offences by any manager in the Premier League to date and is unbelievably hypocritical given his recent comments in respect of Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid.

'This comes after a series of events, dating back to last summer, which have shown Manchester United to be in breach of Premier League rules.

'As a result, we have today made an official complaint to the Premier League about the conduct of Manchester United.

'Benitez made similar comments in respect of Robbie recently and we made an official complaint to the Premier League about the conduct of Liverpool earlier this week.

'The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should refrain from pursuing the player.

'Both clubs arrogantly chose to ignore this request and we now have evidence that both clubs have systematically been working to prise the players away from us, outside of Premier League rules of conduct.

'Our subsequent position has been severely compromised by both clubs making their intentions widely known and indeed making contact with the players and their agents, without the club's permission.

'I have absolutely no wish to sell either player and to date we have not accepted any offer for either.

'However, when a player's head is turned and their commitment is absent, particularly when they occupy key positions such as that of striker, they become a negative influence in a team dressing room in which they were once a positive addition and influence.

'This is the situation we now have on our hands, with both Dimitar and Robbie having made it clear that they wish to leave for Manchester Utd and Liverpool respectively.

'Irrespective of the outcome and futures of Robbie and Dimitar, we are continuing to seek to bring in quality, talented players for the future, who want to play in a Spurs shirt.'

Benitez and Spurs have clashed before, in March 2006, when the Liverpool boss claimed Spurs were 'desperate' to sell Jermain Defoe and take Djibril Cisse.

It led to Benitez's professionalism being questioned by Spurs officials, and the latest fall-out is unlikely to help the relationship between the clubs.

Aston Villa had already been upset this summer by Benitez's comments regarding Gareth Barry's potential move to Anfield.

However, Ferguson believes it will be 'very embarrassing' for Tottenham if they decide to carry out their threat to report Manchester United to the Premier League.

Old Trafford boss Ferguson maintains he never mentioned anyone by name when he revealed they had tabled a bid for a player.

Ferguson claims his remarks were misreported by a national newspaper and that United may now bring in their legal team.

Speaking after the 1-1 draw against Kaizer Chiefs in the Vodacom Challenge in South Africa, he said: 'It is going to be very embarrassing for them (Tottenham).

'But you know what Daniel Levy is like. He is different.'

source: ESPNsoccernet - England - Spurs file complaint against Man U and Liverpool