Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane has made his intention to move to Liverpool clear to Tottenham while the London club is also poised to lose Dimitar Berbatov.
Tottenham have lodged an official complaint to the Premier League over the conduct of Liverpool and Manchester United in their pursuit of Keane and Berbatov having admitted both players wish to leave.
Spurs have been angered by the comments of Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who went public last week by revealing the Keane as a target. Alex Ferguson has also confirmed United have made a bid for Berbatov and eventually expects the deal to go through.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy tonight issued the following statement on his club's official website, www.tottenhamhotspur.com: "The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should refrain from pursuing the player.
"Both clubs arrogantly chose to ignore this request and we now have evidence that both clubs have systematically been working to prise the players away from us, outside of Premier League rules of conduct.
"Our subsequent position has been severely compromised by both clubs making their intentions widely known and indeed making contact with the players and their agents, without the club's permission.
"I have absolutely no wish to sell either player and to date we have not accepted any offer for either. However, when a player's head is turned and their commitment is absent, particularly when they occupy key positions such as that of striker, they become a negative influence in a team dressing room in which they were once a positive addition and influence.
"This is the situation we now have on our hands, with both Dimitar and Robbie having made it clear that they wish to leave for Manchester Utd and Liverpool respectively. Irrespective of the outcome and futures of Robbie and Dimitar, we are continuing to seek to bring in quality, talented players for the future, who want to play in a Spurs shirt."
Benitez and Spurs have clashed before, in March 2006, when the Liverpool boss claimed Spurs were "desperate" to sell Jermain Defoe and take Djibril Cisse.
It led to Benitez's professionalism being questioned by Spurs officials, and the latest fall-out is unlikely to help the relationship between the clubs.
Aston Villa had already been upset this summer by Benitez's comments regarding Gareth Barry's potential move to Anfield.
