Sir Alex Ferguson has rejected out of hand a £6.8m offer from Liverpool for Gabriel Heinze and told the unsettled Argentina left-back that he will be allowed to leave Manchester United this summer only for a club on the continent. Despite meeting United's valuation of the 29-year-old, Liverpool have been told that there is no prospect of Heinze becoming the first player for over 40 years to leave Old Trafford for their Anfield rivals.Indeed Ferguson has made it clear to United's chief executive, David Gill, that he will not sanction any transfer to a domestic rival. Gill said yesterday: "We have received a written offer from Liverpool for Heinze and we have rejected that because it's Liverpool. We wouldn't sell to Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea and we have relayed that to the agent. "We have told him that in no uncertain terms. If there was a significant offer from overseas we would discuss that internally and discuss it with the player and see what he wants." Real Madrid and Italian clubs have been closely monitoring the Argentinian's situation.
Heinze had been predicted to exploit a new Fifa ruling allowing players to buy out the final two years of their contract in order to clinch a move away from United, but Gill insists that route is now closed. "You can only use Fifa article 17 within 15 days of the end of the season and you have to give notice within 15 days of the end of the league season."