Fergie also hit back at claims by Tevez that he ignored the Argentine striker at the end of the season.

Fergie said: "The fans quite rightly have their heroes and I respect the fans so I was happy to go along with a deal as long as it was the right deal.

"Our success is down to the fans and their support, we need them when we are away from home to the likes of Fulham and Arsenal but he was simply not worth £25m."

Ferguson added: "We made contact with Carlos, I sent him texts and spoke to him when he was in Argentina.

"David Gill made an offer to Kia so I spoke to Carlos before the Inter Milan game and said that we had spoken to Kia."