Rafael Benitez does not normally get involved with the off-field mind games between opposing managers that is all too common in today's world of football.

But in the Champions League encounter last season between Liverpool and Chelsea he showed that he is more than capable of holding his own in a battle of words. Now his attempt to sign Gabriel Heinz from arch enemy Manchester United has all the hallmarks of a true chess grandmaster. In one simple move he has backed Sir Alex into a corner with his audacious bid to make Heinz the first man to leave Old Trafford for Anfield since Phil Chisnall in 1964.

I have no doubt that Benitez would really like to sign Heinze, but i also believe that when he first made his move for the Argentinian he thought that it would have very little chance of success. Perhaps he was being mischievous. But because of United's amateurish handling of the situation they have actually made the move, which would be a nightmare for the club and their fans, become a real possibility.

'Because of United's amateurish handling of the situation they have actually made the move, which would be a nightmare for the club and their fans, become a real possibility'


Sir Alex Ferguson told the media that, under no circumstances, would Heinze play for Liverpool. That was a  mistake. Heinze was on holiday after playing in the Copa America and they had told the player, months earlier,  that if a club came in with a bid of £6.8m he would be free to move.

I'm sure that if Sir Alex had not panicked when the Liverpool bid came in, and actually explained to the player the problems that this transfer would cause, that Heinze would be prepared to wait for something else. But Heinze, like all Premiership players, leads a pampered life and is not used to being told "No. So it must have really riled Heinze that he was being told who he could, or could not, sign for after the earlier agreement between club and player.

United have backed themselves into a corner in this situation and may find themselves in court twice this summer with the drawn-out Carlos Tevez affair, and these are distractions they could do without.

One indication of how much Benitez is enjoying this little battle was evident with his little tongue-in-cheek statement that "I don't know what the problem is." Somehow i think he knows how it would hurt all Manchester fans around the globe if Gabriel Heinze moved to Liverpool and, even worse, if he became a success at Anfield.