By apparently misquoting Sir Alex Ferguson and claiming he had named Dimi Berbatov as his one and only transfer target this summer, The Sun may have inadvertently succeeded in aiding United's prolonged attempt to sign the £30m-rated striker.
Friday's edition of the newspaper quoted Ferguson declaring that "We have made Tottenham an offer on Berbatov and we have good expectations that this deal will go through. Berbatov has been impressive during a long time and would be a great addition to our attack. We are hoping to have a constructive conversation with Tottenham in the near future."
Those remarks prompted a furious response from Tottenham, with chairman Daniel Levy branding Ferguson a "hypocrite" and making an official complaint against the Premiership champions along with Liverpool over their pursuit of Robbie Keane.
But the saga took an unexpected twist on Saturday night when Ferguson categorically denied speaking to The Sun or naming Berbatov and warned Tottenham that they would be "embarrassed" if they sought action against him.
"It is going to be very embarrassing for Tottenham because they have based their complaint on a story in The Sun. I don't know where they got these quotes from, but it certainly wasn't me," Ferguson said. "I haven't seen [Levy's statement] yet. I have just been given the gist of it by our press officer. But I'm sure our legal people will be looking at it."
It's unclear whether Ferguson was threatening legal redress against Tottenham or The Sun or both, but it would appear that Levy has based his complaint on a story that, even on the day of its publication, was greeted with considerable scepticism, not least by the reporters who confronted the ManYoo boss as he prepared to fly out to South Africa for the next leg of their pre-season preparations. As The Sunday Telegraph notes, 'Ferguson did indeed confirm Manchester United had made a bid for one player and it is a fair guess that he was referring to Berbatov but at no time in his five-minute conversation at Manchester Airport did he mention the striker or Spurs by name.'
While the row is bound to cause relations between United and Tottenham to deteriorate - and Ferguson spoke scathingly of Levy when he spoke at a televised press conference in Cape Town on Saturday night - it may yet play out to United's advantage.
'Unless it can be proved that Ferguson made the comments in dispute, Levy could find himself defending a defamation case,' reports The Sunday Times. 'In all likelihood, the row has strengthened United's chances of signing Berbatov, who joined Spurs in May 2006 for £10.9m. Levy was determined to play hardball over the 27-year-old Bulgarian striker, for whom he is thought to be seeking £30m, but he may have to be more accommodating should he find himself trying to persuade Ferguson not to sue.'
Tottenham, however, remain adamant that they were justified in making their complaint against both Manchester United and Liverpool. "
A 'Tottenham source' told The Sunday Telegraph: "We have a huge amount of evidence. It's got to the point where two clubs feel they are untouchable in terms of ignoring competition rules.
"These two managers have gone on the record publicly without the club giving permission and we now have two disenfranchised players who have had their heads turned. If Ferguson comes out fighting, it's because he has something to be worried about. We told Liverpool to go away and they went after Robbie Keane anyway."