Tevez was never worth 25million pound : Tevez

GARY NEVILLE insists Manchester United were right to get rid of Carlos Tevez because he was overpriced.

The Reds balked at a £25million asking price after the Argentine had spent two years on loan at Old Trafford.

Now the striker, 25, is in red-hot form for rivals Manchester City and they meet tonight at Eastlands in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-finals.

But United's club captain agreed with boss Alex Ferguson that at the end of last season the figures just did not stack up.

Neville said: "The manager over the years has made many decisions with regard to players coming and going - and he has almost always been proved correct.

"Over a period of 20 years he may have got one or two wrong, and I think he has admitted that himself, but he knows exactly what he's doing and he understands when a player's time is up. I can't disagree with his decision on Tevez. He was a good player for us but, if the financial demands are too big, then that's just the way it goes.

"Other good players have left this club in the past, it's not the first time it's happened.

"We have the best manager in the world at putting teams together. He's done it successfully for 20 years. There have not been many people who have questioned him over the years and been proved right."

Tevez has 11 goals in his last nine starts and will be desperate to add to that tally tonight in one of the biggest clashes between the city rivals for many years.

Neville admitted: "Our two Carling Cup games against City are massive. It's a derby and one of the biggest games we have played against City for a long time.

"Certainly we expect it to be a difficult game. They are in good form and it's always difficult away against City. We will have to be at our best for the game.

"I've only seen one of City's games since Roberto Mancini took over as manager - their 3-0 win at Wolves. City impressed me in that game but I haven't seen a great deal of them."

United full-back Patrice Evra dismisses the rivalry with City, claiming that while it's a big game for the blue half of Manchester it is just another match for the red half.

He said: "It's an important game against City, a big game, but I only talk about it because I want to win this game and have a chance to win a trophy.

"Maybe that's the difference between United and City. We play the game to win and to win the Carling Cup, they play to win against Manchester United."

While United struggle under crippling debt, City can boast being the richest club in the world under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour.

But Neville says there is no paranoia at Old Trafford over City's increased strength.

He said: "I don't see the game as a chance to reassert our dominance over City.

"We're quite comfortable with where we are. We are second in the league, in the Carling Cup semi-finals and in the second phase of the Champions League.

"People might think something is going on in Manchester between the two clubs, but we can't afford to get involved in that."

THE Glazer family have gone cap in hand to Manchester United's players - effectively asking them for a multi-million pound loan.

United stars were stunned by the handout request when they arrived back last week from their Qatar training camp.

Players were handed a prospectus, as owner Malcolm Glazer attempts to raise a staggering £500million through a bond issue to refinance huge debts.

And SunSport understands even the lower paid Old Trafford staff have been offered the 'opportunity' to invest in the club by the American owners.

A United insider said: "The players don't know what to make of it, really.

"Most are bemused that the people who pay their wages are basically trying to find out if they can have some back.

"A few of the lads know a good investment when they see one, but not too many seem prepared to put their money where their mouths are!"

United are believed to be offering investors an annual return of seven per cent on the bonds, which start at £50,000 a block.

But City experts say returns are dependent on continued success on the field in the years ahead.

The insider added: "There have been people working at Old Trafford for many years, on low salaries, worried about their futures.

"Yet now they are being offered the chance to stretch themselves even further. It's a joke!"

FRANCE star Thierry Henry will not be punished for his handball

FIFA's disciplinary committee concluded there was "no legal foundation" for them to deal with the case.

The decision means Henry will not face a ban for any matches of this summer's World Cup finals.

FIFA said in a statement: "The disciplinary committee reached the conclusion that there was no legal foundation for the committee to consider the case because handling the ball cannot be regarded as a serious infringement as stipulated in article 77a) of the FIFA disciplinary code.

"There is no other legal text that would allow the committee to impose sanctions for any incidents missed by match officials."

Henry's handball in the run-up to William Gallas' decisive goal in the World Cup play-off qualifier ended the Republic's dreams of qualifying for the finals in South Africa.

The Football Association of Ireland were infuriated by the goal and demanded a replay, then even suggested they should be allowed to go to the World Cup as a 33rd team.

FIFA dismissed their demands but did agree to have another look at the possibility of using video evidence in the future, and instructed the disciplinary committee to investigate possible action against the 32-year-old former Arsenal hero.

Henry's defence today argued successfully that FIFA's disciplinary code does not give the committee the ability to punish such incidents.

Under current rules, only the illegal use of a hand to prevent a goal being scored is covered in relation to possible sanctions.

BARCELONA have shrugged off claims that coach Pep Guardiola will move to Manchester United.

The 39-year-old has been linked with a move to Old Trafford as Alex Ferguson's eventual successor.

Barcelona won six trophies under Guardiola last season, including a Champions League final victory over United in Rome.

But although his contract expires at the end of this season, Barca president Joan Laporta is convinced the coach will stay put.

Laporta said: "We cannot avoid the speculation as he is the best coach in the world and many clubs will be interested.

"Manchester United are just one club who I am sure are watching his future — but he has a long way to go with Barcelona.

"Because of his characteristics we expect him to continue to write the pages of history of this football club.

"We would like to solve this question mark over his future as soon as possible and we are convinced that he will sign but we must respect his decision to wait."

The 50 highest salaries of football players 2008/2009

	Player	Club	Monthly (€)	Annual (€)	Week (£)
1	Zlatan Ibrahimović	Barcelona	750000	9000000	£ 166,000
2	Ricardo Kaka	Real Madrid	750000	9000000	£ 166,000
3	Lionel Messi	FC Barcelona	700000	8400000	£ 156,000
4	John Terry	Chelsea FC	632000	7575000	£ 140,000
5	Frank Lampard	Chelsea FC	632000	7575000	£ 140,000
6	Thierry Henry	FC Barcelona	625000	7500000	£ 138,000
7	Samuel Eto'o	Inter Milan	625000	7500000	£ 138,000
8	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	564000	6763000	£ 125,000
9	Ronadinho Gaucho	AC Milan	542000	6500000	£ 120,000
10	Andrei Shevchenko	Dynamo Kiev	542000	6500000	£ 120,000
11	Michael Ballack	Chelsea FC	542000	6500000	£ 120,000
12	Steven Gerrard	Liverpool FC	542000	6500000	£ 120,000
13	Rio Ferdinand	Manchester United	542000	6500000	£ 120,000
14	Raul Gonzalez	Real Madrid	533000	6400000	£ 118,000
15	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Real Madrid	533000	6400000	£ 118,000
16	Iker Casillas	Real Madrid	500000	6000000	£ 110,000
17	Frederic Kanouté	Sevilla FC	500000	6000000	£ 110,000
18	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	500000	6000000	£ 110,000
19	Michael Owen	Manchester  United	500000	6000000	£ 110,000
20	Fabio Cannavaro	Juventus	483000	5800000	£ 107,000
21	Robinho	Manchester City	473000	5680000	£ 105,000
22	Francesco Totti	AS Roma	458000	5500000	£ 101,000
23	Luca Toni	Bayern Munich	458000	5500000	£ 101,000
24	Arjen Robben	Bayern Munich	455000	5460000	£ 100,000
25	Ashley Cole	Chelsea FC	450000	5410000	£ 100,000
26	Deco	Chelsea FC	450000	5410000	£ 100,000
27	Fernando Torres	Liverpool FC	450000	5410000	£ 100,000
28	Carlos Tevez	Manchester City	428000	5140000	£ 95,000
29	Adriano	Flamengo	416000	5000000	£ 92,000
30	Patrick Vieira	Manchester City	416000	5000000	£ 92,000
31	Charles Puyol	FC Barcelona	416000	5000000	£ 92,000
32	Andres Iniesta	FC Barcelona	416000	5000000	£ 92,000
33	Xavi	FC Barcelona	416000	5000000	£ 92,000
34	Sergio Aguero	Atletico Madrid	416000	5000000	£ 92,000
35	Gianluigi Buffon	Juventus	416000	5000000	£ 92,000
36	Willy Sagnol	Bayern Munich	416000	5000000	£ 92,000
37	Dimitar Berbatov	Manchester United	405000	4869000	£ 90,000
38	Andrei Arshavin	Arsenal FC	405000	4869000	£ 90,000
39	Didier Drogba	Chelsea FC	405000	4869000	£ 90,000
40	Nicolas Anelka	Chelsea FC	405000	4869000	£ 90,000
41	Paul Scholes	Manchester United	405000	4869000	£ 90,000
42	Alessandro Del Piero	Juventus	400000	4800000	£ 88,000
43	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	400000	4800000	£ 88,000
44	Pike	Bayern Munich	400000	4800000	£ 88,000
45	Frank Ribery	Bayern Munich	400000	4800000	£ 88,000
46	Joe Cole	Chelsea FC	383000	4600000	£ 85,000
47	Ryan Giggs	Manchester United	383000	4600000	£ 85,000
48	Xabi Alonso	Real Madrid	383000	4600000	£ 85,000
49	Jamie Carragher	Liverpool FC	383000	4600000	£ 85,000
50	David Beckham	AC Milan	375000	4500000	£ 83,000
51	Juninho Pernanbucano	Olympique Lyon	375000	4500000	£ 83,000
52	Sidney Govou	Olympique Lyon	375000	4500000	£ 83,000
53	David Trezeguet	Juventus	375000	4500000	£ 83,000