SIR ALEX Ferguson has slammed the "terrible" wage demands which cost Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke a move to Middlesbrough.

Yorke asked for around £60,000-a-week after Boro had agreed a £6.2m fee with United.

The deal collapsed at the end of January and came as a double blow to Boro boss Steve McClaren, Ferguson's former right-hand man with United, who had already been pipped by his mentor to the £6.9m signature of Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan.

But Yorke's intransigence also hit Ferguson, who missed out on the chance to land West Ham star Paolo di Canio.

The United board are understood to have blocked Ferguson's move for the Italian forward because Yorke was still on the Old Trafford wage bill.

Ferguson said: "Dwight wouldn't go to Middlesbrough, which is something I'm sure he regrets now.

"Between him and his agent they asked for a terrible amount of money, which Steve McClaren quite rightly wasn't prepared to pay.

"That deal floundered and the Paolo di Canio deal also floundered. I was very, very keen. I think Paolo is one of the best players in the Premier League.

"I think he would have been a fantastic player to bring in at that time because Diego Forlan was young.

"He would have added that little bit extra. I wanted that extra player with experience, like Paolo, who would have given us a terrific lift, but it didn't materialise because I couldn't sell Dwight Yorke."

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