BALLACK WON'T BE COMING

“As Michael Ballack emerged from talks with Bayern Munich to ask for more time to decide his future, Sir Alex Ferguson can only hope that his principal transfer target has not been analysing plummeting morale at Manchester United.

“When United's interest in Ballack was first reported the Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said Germany's captain should 'laugh' at the offer from Old Trafford and results since then, most notably Tuesday's listless 0-0 draw with Lille, have merely corroborated his follow-up statement that 'Manchester are not the club they once were'.

“While United were being booed off the pitch, Bayern were beating Juventus 2-1 in their Champions League group. The German champions are equal on points with Werder Bremen at the top of the Bundesliga and, contrary to reports this week, it was never Ballack's aim to inform the club yesterday that he had no intention of signing a new contract when his present deal expires next June.

“Instead he spent a four-hour meeting with Rummenigge and other Bayern officials listening to the finer details of a proposed new contract.

“‘I want another four to six weeks,’ he said. ‘I'm still very undecided and it's difficult when there is such a good chance of staying here. Bayern are a team very close to my heart.’

“United have put together a financial package they hope will tempt him but their case is being undermined by the club's troubles. Ballack would not entertain the idea of joining a club unless they are realistic European Cup challengers and he is understood to be perturbed by United's current malaise.”