Fergie had this to say post match, "We don't want to make a monster out of this thing. You can maybe push players into these things and you can make it worse. He knows we want him to sign and that's important and he knows the fans want him to sign, so we don't want to be shoving the lad into something he is not sure about.
"If he's not sure, then he should take time - but that most important thing is we want him to do it quickly."
After being booed at the weekend, Rio rushed to the Sun and told them, "I fully understand where the fans are coming from. If I was one of them I'd wonder when the deal was going to be signed as well. I won't pretend it was a comfortable feeling to have your own supporters on your back, but they need to know I want to stay at Old Trafford.
"They couldn't be further from the truth if they think I want to go. Contracts do not get signed in five minutes. I've no intention of leaving. I want the contract sorted. I've heard I'm being greedy but some of the figures thrown around are ridiculous. I was accused of asking for £150,000 a week. I wouldn't insult the club like that. But you do try to get what is best for you, that is only natural.”
"You can understand people jumping to conclusions and why the manager was keen for me to get the matter sorted out. The club paid a lot of money for me and won't want me to leave on a free in a couple of years. But the desire for haste has been caused by that unplanned meeting and put pressure on both sides. I can assure everyone I will not be going to Chelsea and want to sign for United again.
He even spoke of the Kenyon meeting, "While I will always maintain that meeting was purely coincidental, I agree it was not helpful. In hindsight it would have been a lot better if it had never happened.”
However, he has only maintained that the meeting was coincidental since his original story (that he had no idea Kenyon would be there) was exposed as a lie by Zahavi. And how can something be a coincidence if you know in advance that it is going to happen? He knew that Kenyon was in the restaurant, and he certainly knew to go to the next restaurant to meet him again.
Does it really take hindsight to realise that the meeting was a bad idea? Surely not even Rio would be stupid enough to think that, so soon after the Ashley Cole affair and at a time when he is refusing to sign a new contract, it would be acceptable for him to meet with Kenyon. Maybe the hindsight refers to getting caught, rather than having the meeting itself.