Sir Alex Ferguson does not believe Carlos Tévez was worth the £25 million his adviser, Kia Joorabchian, wanted to turn his loan period into a permanent deal.
The 25-year-old spent the previous two seasons on loan at Manchester United, but a permanent deal failed to be agreed and the striker has since joined cash-rich neighbours Manchester City.
Tévez blasted his former boss on the day he joined City, accusing Ferguson and the club of not treating him with respect.
However, Ferguson insists he did attempt to keep Tévez but only after trying to knock down a price that had previously been agreed with Joorabchian.
He told The Daily Telegraph: "We made contact with Carlos, I sent him texts and spoke to him when he was in Argentina.
"(United chief executive) 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. But we never heard back.
"He was popular with the supporters. 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 and we need them but, simply, he was not worth £25 million."
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The 25-year-old spent the previous two seasons on loan at Manchester United, but a permanent deal failed to be agreed and the striker has since joined cash-rich neighbours Manchester City.
Tévez blasted his former boss on the day he joined City, accusing Ferguson and the club of not treating him with respect.
However, Ferguson insists he did attempt to keep Tévez but only after trying to knock down a price that had previously been agreed with Joorabchian.
He told The Daily Telegraph: "We made contact with Carlos, I sent him texts and spoke to him when he was in Argentina.
"(United chief executive) 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. But we never heard back.
"He was popular with the supporters. 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 and we need them but, simply, he was not worth £25 million."
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