Manchester United Football Club News

• Nickname:Red Devils
• Founded:1878
• Manager:Sir Alex Ferguson

• Ground:Old Trafford
• Capacity:68,174

United rejected Mascherano

03 Sep 2006 - 11:32:45

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Manchester United chief executive David Gill claims the Red Devils were offered Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano before he joined West Ham United on transfer deadline day.

The 22-year-old joined the Hammers along with compatriot Carlos Tevez from Corinthians last week, with Gill admitting that Mascherano had been watched closely by the Old Trafford club.

Gill told BBC Radio Five Live: "We were never interested in Tevez. Mascherano, we were offered him.

"We watched him throughout last season and he played at the World Cup. We were offered him at the start of the summer transfer window for a significant sum.

"The manager and his staff did not want to pursue that. We were also offered him towards the back end of last week in a loan-type deal for a year and again we were not interested in that.

"From Manchester United's perspective, Tevez was never on the shopping list.

"Mascherano we watched closely and very carefully and the experts on that area in our club determined that we did not want to go for him."