Tottenham Hotspur defend Zeki Fryers signing

Tottenham Hotspur have insisted that they did not manipulate any rules in signing defender Zeki Fryers from Standard Liege.

The 20-year-old's move to Spurs for a reported £3m deal on Thursday was criticised by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who claimed that authorities should look into the transfer.

The Scotsman revealed on Friday that Tottenham refused to pay the £6m compensation that United requested of them last summer before Fryers joined Liege on a free transfer.

"Zeki Fryers was out of contract in the summer," ESPN quotes a Tottenham spokesman as saying.

"We had looked into the possibility of signing the player but were unable to agree a deal on the terms Manchester United were asking.

"Zeki chose to go to Standard Liege, who paid compensation to Manchester United. Zeki enjoyed his time at Standard."

The spokesman added that United will get 5% of the transfer fee Spurs paid to the Belgian club and insists that they have done nothing wrong in the whole transaction.

"However, when Standard sacked their manager in November Zeki wasn't part of the new manager's plans, which he accepts and understands happens in football," he explained.

"Unfortunately, a combination of this, and the fact that he had become homesick meant he wanted to return to England and his representatives made contact with clubs in England.

"This afforded us a second opportunity to sign the player and as per FIFA's solidarity contribution mechanism, Manchester United will receive 5% of the transfer fee we have paid."

Fryers signed a professional contract with United in 2011.