by Dundalk » Sun Jul 22, 2007 12:14 pm
Gabriel Heinze looks to be on his way out of Manchester United. But he won't be going to Liverpool. Gabriele Marcotti wonders why
THEATRE FOLK call it "breaking character". It's the shattering of an illusion, rather like when, as an eight-year-old, you might have run into the goody and the villain amicably having a G&T at the bar after a Christmas panto. Or perhaps discovering that the guy you thought was Father Christmas is actually your dad, and, no, he doesn't even bother dressing up in the suit.
The footballing equivalent occurs when supposed rivals sit down and do business together. We like to think that our heroes on the pitch feel about opposing teams pretty much the way we do. There are some opponents we harbour a secret admiration for, some opponents for whom we don't care either way and some opponents who we just plain hate.
As a rivalry, Liverpool and Manchester United falls into the latter category. And it's rivalry which goes beyond the two managers. After all you would imagine that Arsene Wenger would be further down Sir Alex's Christmas card list than Rafa Benitez and that if the Spaniard had to describe his least favourite colleague, his sights would turn to Stamford Bridge rather than Old Trafford.
advertisement
Click here to find out more!
Yet while there is no animosity between the two bosses, the long-standing grudge match between England's two most successful clubs infects everyone, whether it's Liverpool fans stoning Alan Smith's ambulance or Gary Neville candidly announcing that he doesn't like Scousers.
Sir Alex understands those sentiments which is why, on Thursday, he categorically vetoed Gabriel Heinze's move to Anfield. "We have received a written offer from Liverpool for Heinze and we have rejected it because it's Liverpool. We wouldn't sell to Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea and we have relayed that to the agent. We have told him that in no uncertain terms," said United's chief executive, David Gill, who added that it would be a different matter if an offer came in from abroad.
When news of the veto reached Rafa Benitez, he was somewhat perplexed. Attitudes over such matters vary greatly on the continent. In his native Spain, of course, Barcelona and Real Madrid do not enjoy doing business with each other. True, the likes of Bernd Schuster (now, ironically, in charge at the Bernabeu), Michael Laudrup, Luis Milla and, most notoriously, Luis Figo moved from Barca to Real, while Luis Enrique went in the opposite direction. And just last month, Javier Saviola swapped the Camp Nou for the Bernabeu.
But in each of those transfers, the selling club had little control over the move, either because it was a Bosman or because a release clause was involved. The one exception was Samuel Eto'o. When he joined Barcelona in 2004, after five years on loan at Mallorca, he was part-owned by Real Madrid. In one of the most bone-headed moves in history, Real, after much discussion, opted to let him go, believing he "wasn't needed".
But, according to a source close to the Liverpool manager, Benitez genuinely believed there was a chance to do business with United. Part of it had to do with the fact that, in real terms, United and Liverpool isn't exactly a rivalry of equals in the way that Barcelona and Real is. After all, in the past 15 years, United have finished in the top two 12 times, Liverpool have done it once. But part of it had to do with the fact that Benitez saw it as the kind of deal which would genuinely help both clubs.
In Italy, such moves are far from rare. No fewer than four Champions League-winning Milan players, including Andrea Pirlo and Clarence Seedorf, came directly from crosstown rivals Inter in various swap deals. In fact, a few years ago, Benitez himself spoke admiringly of these cases as evidence that while rivaly on the pitch is important, if there is a deal to be done, there is no point in cutting off your nose to spite your face.
In fact, some of the Milan clubs' "mutually beneficial deals" are somewhat suspect and, indeed, the Italian FA have opened an enquiry. Between 2003 and 2005, the two clubs regularly "swapped" no fewer than eight players (mostly obscure ones who would then get shipped off on loan to the nether divisions) in what allegedly amounted to "creative accounting". The "trick" allegedly worked like this: Milan would sell players like goalkeeper Simone Brunelli (who has made a total of zero professional appearances in his six-year career to Inter for £2 million. At the same time, Inter would sell a guy like midfielder Matteo Deinite to Milan for £2m. No money would actually change hands and both players would then be loaned out to lower division clubs. But, on the balance sheet, it made sense. Both players would be signed to five-year deals, allowing the clubs to amortise the expense, which meant that, in that year's accounts, they would show up as a £400,000 debit.
Meanwhile, the transfer fee itself would be included straight away, as a £2m credit. And - presto! - with the stroke of a pen and a few contracts, both clubs would make a "paper profit" of £1.6m without actually spending a penny. The following year they could always sell both players back to each other, perhaps this time for £3m and the house of cards would continue to grow.
But back to Heinze. Obviously his move would not fall into this category. And you can see just why Benitez felt it would be mutually beneficial. United have spent close to £50m on Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves. And, if and when the Carlos Tevez move goes through, that figure will rise to somewhere between £70m and £80m. The Glazers would like to see that figure clawed back to close to £50m. Selling Kieran Richardson to Sunderland brought in £5.5m, another £10m could be raised by off-loading two out of Alan Smith, Darren Fletcher, Mickael Silvestre and Giuseppe Rossi. That would still leave them short of the target, which is why Liverpool felt the £6m to £7m that Gabriel Heinze would have fetched would have seemed attractive.
Heinze is not the player he was in his first season at Old Trafford. At 29, he isn't getting any younger and, after missing most of the 2005-06 campaign through injury, he is now the second-choice left back behind Patrice Evra. Given that Silvestre and John O'Shea are adequate alternatives, one would have thought that the Argentine might have been expendable. While players who move to rival clubs often become hate figures (just ask Figo or Sol Campbell or, closer to home, Mo Johnston), Heinze isn't exactly Gary Neville in terms of being "United through and through".
From Liverpool's perspective it certainly made sense. Heinze knows the Premiership well, he can provide cover in central defence as well and, crucially, when he plays at left back, he does so with a defender's mentality, which is something Benitez values - as evidenced by the fact that, in key matches, he moved the marauding John Arne Riise into midfield and played the right-footed Alvaro Arbeloa on the left of his back four.
And yet, if Gill and Sir Alex are to be believed, this is one deal that won't happen. No matter how much sense it might make for both teams, nobody wants to "break character".
Last edited by
Dundalk on Sun Jul 22, 2007 12:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
scums only think of their selfish selves but not the future or feelings of Heinze which he believes that LFC can satisfied him.
