We will not bid for Duff, says Kenyon

Manchester United's chief executive. Peter Kenyon. has ruled out a bid for Blackburn's Damien Duff following the collapse of Ronaldinho's £20m move from Paris St Germain.

Kenyon was angered by the fall-out from the Brazilian's decision, angrily attacking the French club's president, Francis Graille, who had described United as "arrogant".

However, Kenyon said that United's failure would not prompt a last-ditch attempt to prise Duff from Chelsea's clutches, even though the Republic of Ireland international would probably prefer to stay in the North-west.

"Let's kill the Damien Duff story straightaway," Kenyon said. "We are not in for him. There has been no approach to the club and no approach to the player, and there won't be. He is due to sign for Chelsea."

Duff has met the Chelsea manager, Claudio Ranieri, over a possible move to Stamford Bridge. Blackburn have accepted a £17m offer for the 24-year-old Republic of Ireland winger from the Stamford Bridge club. "We met Mr Ranieri on Saturday and things went well," said Duff's adviser, Pat Devlin. "It's down to Damien now - no one's going to pressurise him."

Devlin denied that the player was holding out for a move to United. "It's very simple - he either stays at Blackburn or he goes to Chelsea. It's one or the other," he said. "There's been no interest from Manchester United that I'm aware of. If there was, I'm sure Blackburn would have alerted not only ourselves but Chelsea as well."

Blackburn agreed a fee from Chelsea on Thursday, after turning down several previous offers. Duff had been due to fly out to America with Rovers for pre-season preparations, only to abort the trip at the 11th hour.

Meanwhile, Ronaldinho's agent and brother said that the Brazilian international would have been happy to join United if the English champions had managed to agree a transfer fee.

"As Manchester United and PSG were not coming close to an agreement, the situation was becoming increasingly complicated," Roberto Assis said. "It was not because of lack of desire by the player. We have a great affection and respect for Manchester and, for sure, the possibility of going to Manchester is, and has always been, a rare opportunity in the career of any player.

"With great affection and respect, we have only to thank the club for their interest in buying Ronaldinho. I said [to Manchester United's people] that if they could sort out the situation with the club [PSG] they would not have any problems with us, but this agreement never materialised."

Despite the attraction of United, Barcelona were not merely second choice, Assis added. The Spanish club will not be in the Champions' League this season, but Assis said that Ronaldinho was keen to follow in the footsteps of a trio of Brazilians to have triumphed at the Nou Camp.

"Although Barcelona are not in the Champions' League because of different problems, they are still a club with 110,000 members, a club of great expression in the world of soccer," Assis said. "Barca has always been a breeding ground for Brazilian players. They are the club where the three Brazilian world players of the year - Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Romario - all had this recognition while wearing Barcelona's shirt. Barcelona were always in our plans.For us, a club of great prestige, the climate, a good contract - all of these are favourable factors. They also play attacking football."