Ferdinand's move stalls as Juventus eye O'Leary

The deadlock between Leeds United and Manchester United over Rio Ferdinand's future remained unbroken yesterday, after Peter Ridsdale's board rejected an improved offer of £30m for the defender.

However, it has emerged that David O'Leary, the Elland Road club's former manager, is being head-hunted by the Italian champions, Juventus.

O'Leary, whose stance over the Ferdinand transfer was a contributing factor in his dismissal by Leeds earlier this month, has been offered the opportunity to become Marcello Lippi's right-hand man at the Turin club.

The Irishman is flattered by the interest and may well uproot from Yorkshire after the bitter experiences of the final months at Elland Road. He is highly regarded in Italy where he guided Leeds to wins over Roma and Lazio during European campaigns.

Lippi is in his final year in charge in Turin, so the arrangement, which is something of a surprise, would only be temporary but it would be a huge plus on O'Leary's CV. Ironically, Lippi is a close friend of O'Leary's assistant Brian Kidd, but he played no part in the approach.

O'Leary has not been promised the chance to succeed Lippi at Juventus, but the chance to work with one of the best coaches and some wonderful players at Juventus may be too much to resist.

Ferdinand looked set to be joining his Leeds team-mates on a flight to their Far East tour this morning, although it was reported that United were last night preparing another, higher bid with both sides keen to agree a deal as soon as possible. United contacted Leeds yesterday with an improved offer following their original £20m bid which was rejected out of hand. The second offer would have been a British transfer record, substantially more than the £28.1m paid for Juan Sebastian Veron.

"I have had one conversation with Manchester United but it did not move the situation on any further," Ridsdale said yesterday afternoon following talks with his Old Trafford counterpart, Peter Kenyon. "We have still to receive a bid of a level that we would find acceptable."

Lee Bowyer will not be travelling to China with the Leeds squad this morning, but nor was he on the Liverpool flight to France yesterday as talks over his £9m move dragged on into a fifth day.

Gérard Houllier and his players flew out yesterday afternoon for last night's opening pre-season game against Le Havre. Bowyer was absent because he has still to agree personal terms with Liverpool and he is said to want more than the £35,000-a-week the club have offered. However, Ridsdale was yesterday confident that the move would be completed by Monday.

It has been reported that the main problem lies at the Leeds end because of the £1m Bowyer apparently owes the club in legal fees from his two trials.