|
|
MICHAEL BALLACK will tomorrow spark a bidding war between Manchester United and Real Madrid by confirming he will not sign a new contract at Bayern Munich.
The Germany playmaker will tell Bayern he is off after the Bundesliga giants refused to bow to his demands for a pay rise to £120,000 per week.
And Ballack's decision to turn his back on German football after next summer's World Cup will force Malcolm Glazer to prove he really wants to bankroll the Old Trafford team's renaissance.
Glazer and his sons promised they will spend money to restore United to the pinnacle of English football as part of their drawn-out takeover battle.
But with Roy Keane on his way out of the club after 13 years at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson and the United fans still hostile to the American billionaire will see Ballack as the testing ground for Glazer's real ambitions. Boss Fergie wants Ballack, 29, as the man to inherit Keane's mantle of midfield leadership, aware he has the drive and goal sense to push United towards challenging Chelsea's Premiership dominance.
Landing Ballack, though, will mean United having to show they have the financial muscle and willpower to outbid Real to sign the player.
Ballack, on £4million a year, is demanding a 50 per cent rise - especially as he will be able to sign a pre-contract agreement for a free transfer under the the Bosman rule
That figure fits into Real's "galactico" salary level, but is more than United had been keen to play Rio Ferdinand or anybody else.
But United will have to at least match Real's offer to capture Ballack, and they have just 10 weeks to come up with a package that is enticing enough for the player and his hard-ball agent Michael Becker.
Ballack is still publicly playing a guessing game with Bayern, insisting last night: "You will have to wait until Wednesday."
Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer has told the board they must pay Ballack whatever he wants to stay, but director Uli Hoeness said: "We can't sell our stadium just to keep Michael Ballack. We have limits and we won't exceed them."
Ballack has said he is sick of the criticism he receives in Germany and that has led to charges of arrogance, but Ferguson believes Ballack could be the ingredient his team needs - and the pressure is on the Glazers to show they back the manager's judgement and the fans' demands.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/tm ... n%2d-name_page.html |
|
IP卡
狗仔卡
發表於 2005-10-19 00:00:22
提升卡
置頂卡
沉默卡
喧囂卡
變色å¡
顯身å¡
發表於 2005-10-19 00:07:48
