Tottenham beat out archrivals Arsenal and Liverpool to the signing of Lewis Holtby, with Sir Alex Ferguson lashing out at the North London club for the manner in which they signed Zeki Fryers.
Holtby was one of the most coveted players this season, with the 22-year-old refusing to sign a new contract at Schalke, meaning he could walk on a free transfer in the summer.
That is precisely what will happen, with Holtby agreeing a deal with Spurs to join the English Premier League club in the summer, subject to passing a medical.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had confirmed his interest in Holtby, a German international with an English father. However, it now seems the talented playmaker will look to make a name for himself within the confines of White Hart Lane.
"We're delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Lewis Holtby to join the club in July from Schalke," Spurs said in a statement.
"For Lewis it will not be a problem (adapting to English football)," assistant manager Steffen Freund added.
"He is half-English, he loves the Premier League. He is captain of the U21s for Germany, he will lead the team at the European Championship in Israel."
Meanwhile, Ferguson, clearly not amused by the manner in which Fryers was bought by Spurs, six months after the former United player joined Standard Liege, has hit out at the signing.
Fryers refused to sign a new contract with United, meaning he could leave the club for a nominal fee. Spurs confirmed their interest, but weren't ready to pay the reported £6 million ($9.5 million) compensation amount.
The defender eventually signed for Liege in the summer, but after just half a season, he has now joined Spurs, for what would have been a considerably lower fee.
"I am disappointed in Tottenham," Ferguson said.
"It is a blatant manipulation of the situation. They tried to buy him from us at the end of last season but we couldn't agree terms. Then they took him on trial, came back from Portugal and said they couldn't afford him.
"All of a sudden he signed for Standard Liege but I expected him to go to Tottenham in the January window.
"The league should look into it. They should stop the registration until they examine it. There will be a trail. Either mobile phones or something. It is obvious to me."
Spurs, however, refuted the accusations, saying the signing was a result of the situation Fryers found himself in after a coaching change. "Zeki Fryers was out of contract in the summer," a spokesman said. "We had looked in to 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. 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.
"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 five percent of the transfer fee we have paid."
