Manchester United

Manchester United is cutting its ties with Elite, the sports agency run by the son of its manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, following an internal review of its player transfer policy. The review was triggered by the club's largest shareholders, JP McManus and John Magnier, who had criticised the club's internal procedures and attacked the lack of transparency in player transfer deals, which often result in agents earning millions of pounds in commission. It revealed that the club had paid no less than ฃ13m to agents in the past three years. Sir Roy Gardner, United's chairman, effectively admitted that all was not well, even though the club claimed that it was 'satisfied' its internal processes had been adhered to throughout the period reviewed. The question is whether these procedures were themselves adequate. On this point, Sir Roy Gardner stated that there were 'things we could do better to protect the reputation of the club. With that in mind we have introduced improved internal controls and are confirming our commitment to greater transparency in transfer dealings.'

The review revealed that thirteen United players are currently represented by Elite. The review also disclosed that the agency had earned fees in the deal that saw Jaap Stam move from United to Lazio and the loan of Ricardo Lopez to Racing Santander. United players represented by Elite will not be asked to end their reltionships with the agency, although it will not be retained to act for the club when it is pursuing future player deals.

Relations between the club and Mr Magnier and Mr McManus have improved since their legal dispute with Sir Alex over Rock of Gibraltar was settled in March. The Irish pair are studying the report and will soon inform the United board whether they are satisfied with its contents.

However, some external critics have already dismissed it as a 'whitewash'. An investigation by the Sunday Times raised a series of questions about payments made in the deal for goalkeeper Tim Howard and other aspects of the inquiry. The newspaper noted. 'The report failed to explain the role played by Gaetano Marotta, a Swiss agent whose English is so poor that the club had to talk to him