Venables in fury as Leeds agree to sell Ferdinand for £30m

The saga of the most expensive transfer in British football finally ended yesterday when Leeds United agreed to sell Rio Ferdinand to Manchester United for £30m.

For that kind of money, Sir Alex Ferguson could have bought Sunderland's entire squad and still had change for Lee Bowyer, whose own move to Liverpool collapsed shortly before the Leeds chairman, Peter Ridsdale, struck a deal for Ferdinand. There are five footballers who have commanded larger transfer fees but the 23-year-old now finds himself once again the world's most expensive defender, surpassing the £22m Juventus paid Parma for Lilian Thuram. The difference is that Thuram had won the World Cup and European Championship; Ferdinand is still awaiting his first trophy.

Ferdinand, who opted out of Leeds' tour of Australia and the Far East, claiming the constant speculation over his future had mentally unbalanced him, will travel to Manchester today to undergo a medical and discuss personal terms. Since the England centre-back asked for the transfer, on the grounds that United could offer him Champions' League football, and can expect to double his salary at Elland Road, contractual details should not be a problem.

Both sides would be happy with the fee. Ferguson had told friends he thought £28m would secure Ferdinand's services while a fee of £30m allowed Ridsdale to claim they had not undersold a prize asset to their bitterest rival, in stark contrast to Eric Cantona's move to Old Trafford for £1m in November 1992. At a stroke, it raises the £15m the Leeds plc demanded from this summer's transfer dealings and will free money for the new manager, Terry Venables.

"I'm satisfied I've done the best job for Leeds United," said Ridsdale, who negotiated the transfer from his holiday home in Monaco. "If you invest £18m and got £30m, you've done a good job, especially if the player says he doesn't want to play for you again."

The transfer has, however, strained relations between Ferguson and Venables. The Yorkshire club had set and then extended a deadline of noon yesterday for the deal to be concluded as Venables claimed the transfer was "interfering with the business of the club and our pre-season preparations and I will not tolerate that."

Venables, who enjoyed good relations with the United manager when he was England coach, bitterly attacked the Manchester club yesterday. "They seem to think they are entitled to everything," he said. "If they do get Rio, it will make me more determined to stop them lifting the title. When I took the job, I really thought I would be able to make him stay. I understand the lure and appeal of Manchester United but I still thought Rio would understand."

In an open letter to the player he signed, Venables' predecessor, David O'Leary, predicted both that Ferdinand would have no trouble settling in at United and that he would face a Yorkshire backlash when the two sides met at Elland Road on 14 September.

"When you get there, you won't need a settling-in period," O'Leary wrote. "It's not like when Jaap Stam came from Holland and needed months before looking the part. You'll be ready straight away and judging by the way United defended last season, they will need you at your best." O'Leary added that Leeds fans would be "disgusted" by the transfer of their captain to Manchester United, which he believed would render the coming Premiership campaign a one-sided affair.

Ferguson will, however, probably have to sell. Last summer's purchases of Juan Sebastian Veron and Ruud van Nistelrooy for a combined fee of £47m was a figure the Old Trafford board could not have stomached without Stam's departure for £16m to Lazio. The most obvious source of revenue is Veron, although this would undermine Ferguson's passionate defence of the midfielder after an underwhelming season. Since Dwight Yorke earns so much in endorsements and sponsorships by virtue of his being a United player, his salary demands proved too much for Middlesbrough while the £6m fee was beyond Blackburn.

Venables and Ridsdale will now have to deal with Bowyer, who had been expected to move to Anfield for £9m. However, although Liverpool were unsettled by Bowyer's demands for a salary of £45,000 a week, partly in response to the £1m legal bill the midfielder was saddled with following his trial for affray and causing grievous bodily harm, this was not the sticking point. Their manager, Gérard Houllier, found Bowyer's attitude poor and said: "He had neither the hunger nor the desire to play for the club, qualities which are essential in any Liverpool player."

It is a damning indictment and one which will follow Bowyer back to Leeds where he has rejected a five-year contract. Liverpool will now turn their attention towards Blackburn's Damien Duff, a footballer with as much skill and far less baggage than Bowyer.

TRANSFER RECORDS

HIGHEST WORLDWIDE TRANSFER FEES

1: £46.5m, Zinedine Zidane (Juventus to Real Madrid)

2: £37m, Luis Figo (Barcelona to Real Madrid)

3: £35.7m, Hernan Crespo (Parma to Lazio)

4: £32.6m, Gianluigi Buffon (Parma to Juventus)

5: £31m, Christian Vieri (Lazio to Internazionale)

6: £30m, Rio Ferdinand (Leeds United to Manchester United)

7: £28.9m, Gaizka Mendieta (Valencia to Lazio)

8: £28.1m, Juan Sebastian Veron (Lazio to Manchester United)

9: £28m, Rui Costa (Fiorentina to Milan)

10=: £25m, Pavel Nedved (Lazio to Juventus)

£25m, Marc Overmars (Arsenal to Barcelona)

HIGHEST BRITISH TRANSFER FEES

1: £30m, Rio Ferdinand (from Leeds United to Manchester Utd)

2: £28.1m (Juan Sebastian Veron, from Lazio to Manchester United)

3: £19m, Ruud van Nistelrooy (from PSV Eindhoven to Manchester United)

4: £18m, Rio Ferdinand (from West Ham United to Leeds United)

5=: £15m, Alan Shearer (from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United) and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (from Atletico Madrid to Chelsea)

7: £13m, Nicolas Anelka (from Paris St-Germain to Manchester City)

8: £12.6m, Dwight Yorke (from Aston Villa to Manchester United)

9=: £12m, Tore Andre Flo (from Chelsea to Rangers) and Sylvain Wiltord (from Bordeaux to Arsenal)