Brian Reade in the Mirror:
‘It would be easy to accept the current theory that a Rio Ferdinand move to Chelsea is a joke, if it weren't for the characters involved. 'Superagent' Pini Zahavi, that ruthless manipulator who's sucked more blood out of the game than the entire leech population did out of British veins in the 15th century. Peter Kenyon, more slippery than a snake in a barrel of Swarfega. And Rio Ferdinand. As honest as the day is, erm, sorry I've forgotten the end of this sentence, because I'm moving house and I'm a bit mixed-up. The defence for this "innocent" meeting now runs along the following lines: Rio isn't going to Chelsea, but if United don't up his wages to £100,000-a-week, he'll look abroad.
‘What a surprise eh? When Ferdinand's ban ended in September, he emotionally thanked United fans for being "unbelievably loyal" and pledged to repay that loyalty. This was my take: The test will come if United struggle to regain their domestic supremacy and Real Madrid or Chelsea decide to try and seduce him by offering to double his salary. Will he still remember the 'l' word?
‘Will he say to himself: 'When I was out for eight months, earning £10,000 a day for doing nothing, I cost this club dearly. But those fans, many of whom earn in a year what I do every two-and-a-half days, stood by me. Sod the money, it's time to pay them back.' Or, like a stupid drugs test getting in the way of an expensive shopping expedition, will he just conveniently forget about it? We'll see.’