Ferguson defends Man Utd in wake of Le Havre claims

Sir Alex Ferguson has reacted angrily to claims by French club Le Havre that Manchester United illegally poached a young player from their club.

The French side have been outspoken in their accusations that United paid the parents of Paul Pogba, inducing the 16-year-old to break a contract and sign for the English Premier League club.

United have threatened legal action to clear their name while the French claim they have asked FIFA to take action against the defending English champions.

In the wake of Chelsea recently being handed a ban, preventing them from operating in the next two transfer windows, for similar offences, the topic is currently high on the football agenda.

But Ferguson insists United have done nothing wrong, either in the case of Pogba or in their general operations, and insists the French club will be forced to withdraw their accusations.

“I think they are always going to bring Manchester United into it because they are the biggest club, without any foundation or knowledge of the situation whatsoever,” said Ferguson.

“There has been a lot of jumping on the bandwagon but I can assure you that Manchester United behave absolutely correctly in all their dealings with young players and their parents.

“There has never been a case, ever, where we have paid parents. It would be crazy to even contemplate that because it would be the biggest headache you could ever have paying a parent.

“This (accusation) was levelled by some frustrated director at the French club and he is now going to have to retract. We do it impeccably, what other clubs do is obviously subject to a lot of controversy at the moment but I’m confident of our own club.”