November 27 2003, Chris Coleman: “”We’re not a selling club. Louis has said he wants to stay, and there’s no chance he’s going…We’ve not had any concrete offers yet but even if there was an offer we wouldn’t sell him.”
December 22, Louis Saha: “I cannot say no – United is my dream and I want to go there,” Saha was quoted as saying in The Sun newspaper.”
December 23, Fulham Football Club: “There have been unsolicited and unwelcome enquiries from a number of clubs, including Manchester United…It has been made clear to those clubs that Fulham FC does not wish to, and has no financial requirement, to sell.”
Decmber 24, Chris Coleman: “The Chairman’s told me that I don’t have to sell any of my players.”
December 26, Chris Coleman: “He’s not for sale and that’s it.”
January 6 2004: Mohamed Al-Fayed: “I have a clear message to Sir Alex and anyone else who is interested: ‘Read my lips, Saha is not for sale’.”
January 9, Chris Coleman: “The bottom line is that me as a Manager, my CEO and the Chairman are all in agreement and there will be no sale in January.”
January 15, Louis Saha: “They have not been honest. The club’s managers keep changing their opinion…One day they say yes to a transfer and the next day they say no. They think I am an object.
January 18, Fulham Football Club: “Fulham Football Club can confirm that it has reached an agreement in principle with Manchester United for the transfer of the registration of Louis Saha, subject to a number of conditions.”
January 19, The Guardian: “A £10m deal was confirmed last night, although Saha, 25, was actually told last Tuesday [January 13] and has been house-hunting since. Last night he described it as a “dream move”.