Ronaldinho's protracted transfer to Manchester United took a massive step forward last night when his agent admitted Old Trafford was the Brazilian's preferred destination.

"Ronaldinho wants to go to Manchester United," said the player's brother and agent Roberto Assis. "PSG have had an offer from United and we are waiting for a reply."

Although Ronaldinho had previously expressed a desire to play in Spain, only Real Madrid fit the bill.

However, the deal offered by the nine-times European Cup winners would have seen the player remain with PSG for another season and the prospect of missing out on another season of Champions League football is unpalatable to the player.

Ronaldinho failed to return to the French capital for pre-season training yesterday after his club refused to grant extra-time off following last month's Confederations Cup.

Meanwhile, Harry Kewell resisted a last-ditch attempt by Manchester United to hijack his £5 million transfer from Leeds to Liverpool, which included a telephone call from Alex Ferguson urging him to move instead to Old Trafford.

The Australian international was paraded at Anfield yesterday by Gerard Houllier with the acrimony surrounding Kewell's cut-price departure from Elland Road still smouldering across the Pennines.

Yet, for all the resentment emanating from Yorkshire, confirmation that he had rejected United to move to Liverpool will do much to boost his image on Merseyside.

"Harry turned his back on some huge offers over the last few days and has not come here purely for money," said the Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry, who reiterated that he never lodged a formal £7 million offer for the 24-year-old with his opposite number John McKenzie at Leeds.

"He's well rewarded and rightly so, but he's come for football reasons even though there has been enormous interest and temptation from elsewhere."

Ferguson contacted Kewell on Monday when negotiations with Liverpool were nearing a conclusion, just as he allegedly had with Steve Finnan earlier this summer before the Fulham defender completed his £3.5 million move to Merseyside.

It was a tactic that famously worked for the Scot in 1993 when he snatched Roy Keane from Blackburn at the eleventh hour much to the annoyance of then manager Kenny Dalglish.

But on this occasion, Kewell had long set his heart on moving to Anfield and had even threatened to sit out the remaining 12 months of his contract at Leeds if the transfer was blocked. Approaches from Chelsea, Barcelona and Milan were also rejected.

"The other clubs who came for me were already in the Champions League, but that's not everything," said Kewell, who admitted the public war of words which erupted between McKenzie and his agent Bernie Mandic in the wake of the move had taken the gloss from the signing.

"Playing for Liverpool has always been my aim. The only thing that has hurt me is how the Leeds fans might have perceived all the arguments. Hopefully, they can see it's not me who has done all this. It's disappointing how the chairman at Leeds has portrayed me."

For Houllier - flanked yesterday by his other signings Finnan, Anthony le Tallec and Florent Sinama-Pongolle - the pursuit of Kewell ensured his summer search for width, flair and invention has proved successful.

He intends to play Kewell in a central role, either behind a lone striker or up front.

"As a manager you have a vision of what your team should be," he said. "I always thought we needed more creativity. He's 24 and leaving Leeds at the same age Zidane left Bordeaux and Harry's got similar qualities to Zidane."

Arsenal have had a third offer turned down for Seville's under-21 international striker Jose Reyes, this time for £9 million.

"It's not so much that we have rejected this offer, more that we are laughing at it," said a Seville spokesman.

Guardian Service