I turned down Manchester United deal...then Sir Alex Ferguson tried to block my move to Tottenham

"I'm disappointed in Tottenham.

"The Premier League should look into it and I think they should stop the registration until they examine it.

"There will be a trail, mobile phone [records] or something.

"It is obvious to me [what has happened]."

Sir Alex Ferguson did not hold back when Tottenham completed a fairly low-key transfer in the 2013 January window.

The Manchester United manager was in his final six months of the job and on course to regain his Premier League crown, but he couldn't ignore the injustice he felt was happening in North London.

Zeki Fryers had joined United when he was just a child from local side Fletcher Moss Rangers and was teammates with Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison when they famously won the FA Youth Cup in 2011.

He earned two senior starts in the League Cup, with another four substitute appearances across all competitions, but by the end of summer 2012, he could not agree a new deal with the club and left. It is believed Fryers felt disrespected by United after they offered him £1,500-a-week as opposed to the £20,000-per-week salary he went on to earn instead.

Tottenham expressed an interest in signing Fryers and he was even invited on their pre-season tour to Portugal as the North London club worked on a deal. There was interest from all parties to complete a move, but due to Premier League compensation rules, it would cost Spurs £6million to sign him. That was never going to happen.

Fryers had burned his bridges at Old Trafford and was eager to move, but with the compensation fee proving to be an issue, he soon realised he would be best served moving abroad to kickstart his senior career. Then an unexpected opportunity arose. Belgian side Standard Liège expressed an interest in a move and because they were an overseas club, they paid a much smaller fee dictated by Fifa's compensation system, rather than Premier League rules.

“United offered a three-year contract but I rejected the offer,” he said. “Spurs were interested but the fee was too much. Then Standard Liege arrived with a good opportunity for me to play regular games and get experience. I thought it was the right time for me to leave and get experience playing in a good league.

“You never know what will happen in football, but I made the right decision for me. I feel the club would have still brought in a left-back because there was talk of me and Fabio going on loan.

“My first goal is to grow as a player, not to get international recognition directly. In football, everything changes very quickly. Today I’m at Standard in the first year of my contract and I want it to be as good as possible. Maybe after that I can go one step higher.”

It might not have been such an issue had Fryers gone on to be a success in Belgium and fulfill those lofty ambitions, but he only played seven games for them before he spoke of being homesick and pushed for a move back to England at the first time of asking.

Having officially joined Liege, they now had full control over his contract situation and could finance a cut-price sale to Tottenham in the January window that suited all parties and still gave them a handsome profit as well. It meant Spurs saved themselves £3m on the £6m compensation fee they had been quoted and the Belgian side would make a healthy profit on the nominal fee they had paid just six months earlier. It suited everyone, well everyone other than Ferguson and United.

"I am disappointed in Tottenham, I really am. I think it has been a blatant manipulation of the situation,” the legendary manager bemoaned. “They tried to buy him from us at the end of last season but we couldn't agree terms. They then took him on trial and took him to Portugal with the squad and came back and said that they couldn't afford him. And then all of a sudden he signed for Standard Liège and at that moment in time, when I heard that, I expected him to go to Tottenham in the January window. I'm disappointed in Tottenham. The Premier League should look into it and I think they should stop the registration until they examine it. There will be a trail, mobile phone [records] or something. It is obvious to me [what has happened]."

Despite his protests, there were no issues found. Fryers had by-passed the need for compensation by moving directly to Belgium and his homesick excuse was viewed as a legitimate reason why he was ready to return to English football so soon after he had left it.

"Zeki Fryers was out of contract in the summer. We had looked in to the possibility of signing the player but were unable to agree a deal on the terms Manchester United were asking," a Tottenham spokesperson said. "Zeki chose to go to Standard Liege, who paid compensation to Manchester United. Zeki enjoyed his time at Standard. However, when Standard sacked their manager in November Zeki wasn't part of the new manager's plans, which he accepts and understands happens in football.

"Unfortunately, a combination of this, and the fact that he had become homesick meant he wanted to return to England and his representatives made contact with clubs in England. This afforded us a second opportunity to sign the player and as per FIFA's solidarity contribution mechanism, Manchester United will receive five per cent of the transfer fee we have paid."

Fryers joined Tottenham's Development Squad for the remainder of the campaign and eventually made his senior debut at the start of the next season in the Europa League play-off round. Although he had been signed as a first-team option, he was still finding opportunities hard to come by and did not make his Premier League debut until December.

"A lot of people say that when you leave Man United you go down," he said after his first league start. "But for me, I feel like I have gone up, in terms of my development. There were always going to be accusations, obviously.

"I wanted a new adventure, really. There were certain things there that didn't fall my way. And I thought it was time to move on. I felt that I wanted to be more regularly involved around the first team. I wanted to go abroad to further my career. Most foreign players come to England to play, but it's rare that English people go abroad to play. So I thought I was going to go and try something new. I enjoyed it, it was a great experience."

The young full-back would only make 16 senior appearances during his 18 months at the club when the decision was made to move him on. Crystal Palace were the next side to express an interest in the former United youngster, who was soon at his fourth club in just over two years.

There would be loan moves to Rotherham and Ipswich before he left permanently for Barnsley and then Swindon. Stockport County, Welling and Macclesfield would be next before a move to the third division of Swedish football with AFC Eskilstuna.

Still only 32, Fryers must wonder what might have happened had he remained in Manchester instead.