Liverpool and Manchester United have been reported to the Premier League by Tottenham Hotspur following their respective interest in Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov.
Spurs are unhappy with the conduct of their top-flight rivals following speculation linking Keane with a move to Anfield, and Berbatov with a switch to Old Trafford.
Reds boss Rafa Benitez has expressed his interest in Keane, while United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken of his optimism of concluding a deal for Berbatov.
However, Spurs have criticised the two clubs, with chairman Daniel Levy feeling they have to take the matter up with the Premier League.
Sheer arrogance
"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," said Levy in a statement on the club's official website.
"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 (PL) rules. As a result, we have today made an official complaint to the PL about the conduct of Manchester United.
"Benitez made similar comments in respect of Robbie recently and we made an official complaint to the PL 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 PL rules of conduct.
Negative influence
"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."
Spurs are unhappy with the conduct of their top-flight rivals following speculation linking Keane with a move to Anfield, and Berbatov with a switch to Old Trafford.
Reds boss Rafa Benitez has expressed his interest in Keane, while United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken of his optimism of concluding a deal for Berbatov.
However, Spurs have criticised the two clubs, with chairman Daniel Levy feeling they have to take the matter up with the Premier League.
Sheer arrogance
"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," said Levy in a statement on the club's official website.
"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 (PL) rules. As a result, we have today made an official complaint to the PL about the conduct of Manchester United.
"Benitez made similar comments in respect of Robbie recently and we made an official complaint to the PL 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 PL rules of conduct.
Negative influence
"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."
Everyone does it - it is just that no-one likes it when it happens to them. Finger pointing doesn't work for any club, which is why I hope we are never two-faced enough to moan. We all remember Stevie and Chelsea, and we should all remember Ziege too.
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