I don't think it's happened before. I don't think there was anything stopping it from happening before either. I'm not sure a lot of players would agree to something like this when you're effectively saying, "we want you, but we don't want to pay that much for you".
Ferguson: "The league should look into it. They should stop the registration until they examine it. There will be a trail. Either mobile phones or something. It is obvious to me."
Spurs club spokesman: "Zeki Fryers was out of contract in the summer. We had looked in to the possibility of signing the player but were unable to agree a deal on the terms Manchester United were asking. Zeki chose to go to Standard Liege, who paid compensation to Manchester United. 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. Unfortunately, a combination of this, and the fact that he had become homesick meant he wanted to return to England and 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 five per cent of the transfer fee we have paid."
