Furious Sir Alex Ferguson Demanded Premier League Investigate Spurs Transfer

Sir Alex Ferguson wanted the Premier League to investigate a transfer involving Tottenham and a former Manchester United youth player.

It was considered one of the more controversial transfers of 2013, especially after Ferguson accused Premier League rivals Tottenham of "blatant manipulation" when they completed the deal.

Zeki Fryers, who was part of United's famous FA Youth Cup-winning side in 2011 alongside Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard, went on to make a handful of first-team appearances across the 2011-12 campaign.

But in the summer of 2012, Fryers decided against signing a new deal. Instead, he joined Belgian side Standard Liege for a small compensation fee, believed to be less than £1 million – a sum dictated by FIFA's compensation system.

It came as a surprise to many, especially after Fryers travelled with Tottenham on their pre-season tour of Portugal.

Fryers (second right) celebrates winning Manchester Senior Cup. Image credit: Getty

Ultimately, Spurs had failed to agree on a compensation fee with United, who wanted £6 million for the highly-rated defender, but five months later, Fryers swapped Standard Liege for the North London club in a deal worth £3 million.

Sir Alex Ferguson was furious and suggested that Fryers and Spurs had engineered the short-term move to Liege to avoid paying United the full compensation.

"I'm disappointed in Tottenham. I think it's a blatant manipulation of the situation," said Ferguson. "I think the league should look into it and I think they should stop his registration until they examine it."

Tottenham insisted they only made a second approach for Fryers after being made aware that the player was "homesick" in Belgium.

"Zeki enjoyed his time at Standard - however, when Standard sacked their manager in November Zeki wasn't part of the new manager's plans which he accepts and understands happens in football," a Spurs spokesman said.

"Unfortunately, a combination of this and the fact he had become homesick meant he wanted to return to England."

They added: "His representatives made contact with clubs in England. This afforded us a second opportunity to sign the player and as per Fifa's solidarity contribution mechanism. Manchester United will receive 5% of the transfer fee we have paid."

Fryers made a handful of Premier League appearances for Tottenham. Image credit: Getty

Fryers would go on to make 16 appearances for Tottenham across the 2013-14 season. He would then join Crystal Palace in the summer of 2014 for a reported £3 million.

What happened to Zeki Fryers?

The defender, 33, most recently played for Swedish third-tier side AFC Eskilstuna following spells at Barnsley, Swindon Town, Stockport, Welling United and Macclesfield.

Fryers has previously spoken about his decision to leave Manchester United.

"I wanted a new adventure, really. There were certain things there that didn't fall my way. And I thought it was time to move on. I felt that I wanted to be more regularly involved around the first team," he said back in 2014.

"I wanted to go abroad to further my career. Most foreign players come to England to play, but it's rare that English people go abroad to play. So I thought I was going to go and try something new. I enjoyed it, it was a great experience."