Gabriel Heinze was last night facing up to the consequences of his failed attempt to join Liverpool, having seemingly rendered his position at Manchester United untenable. The Argentina defender was told by a Premier League arbitration panel yesterday afternoon that a controversial proposed £6.8 million move to Merseyside could not go through without United’s consent and that his planned appeal against the verdict is almost certain to fail.

The league’s decision came as a significant blow to Rafael BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, who had been confident of a favourable decision, but the repercussions for Heinze are more serious. Having campaigned for the past six weeks to move to Anfield, he testified against United and Sir Alex Ferguson during the two-day hearing in London, with the result that the 29-year-old appears to have burnt his bridges at Old Trafford. Although his instinct is to launch an appeal, Heinze’s most viable escape route now may be to France, Italy or Spain.

The verdict came as a shock to Heinze and his agent, Roberto Rodriguez, who felt that a letter from David Gill, the United chief executive, on June 13 entitled him to join any club offering £6.8 million for his services, as Liverpool did on July 16.

United rejected that bid on the basis that they did not want to do business with Liverpool — they have not sold a player to their big rivals since Phil Chisnall in 1964 — and the three-man panel ruled in the club’s favour on the basis that Gill’s letter did not constitute a binding legal document.

A Premier League statement read: “The hearing concluded that nature and intention of the disputed June 13, 2007 letter, especially when taken in context of verbal discussions and Manchester United transfer policy, was unambiguous in that it envisages only an international transfer.

“Furthermore, the hearing finds the letter constitutes an ‘agreement to agree’, and did not create an obligation or binding agreement for the club to transfer the player to any particular club.”

Heinze, who declined to comment as he left the hearing, is expected to proceed with an appeal, but that strategy would be fraught with danger. Premier League regulations state that United would have 14 days to respond to any request for an appeal, which means that no hearing would be likely to be scheduled before the transfer window closes on August 31. Even now, the player remains determined to move to Anfield, but, unless he can envisage a future at United, he may now be forced to consider hitherto unattractive offers from Juventus, Lyons and an unnamed Spanish club.

United, for their part, have made clear their willingness to sell Heinze and are eager to cash in if it helps to finance another deal before the end of the transfer window. With his team having scored only once in their opening three Barclays Premier League matches, Ferguson is pondering the addition of another striker, but, despite varying degrees of interest in Dimitar Berbatov, Nicolas Anelka and Obafemi Martins, he is reluctant to be seen to be panic-buying so soon after the acquisition of Carlos Tévez.

Edwin van der Sar, the Manches-ter United goalkeeper, suffered a foot injury scare in training with Holland in Geneva, Switzerland, last night, after landing awkwardly while challenging for a ball with Dirk Kuyt, the Liverpool forward. “Van der Sar had a pain in his foot and we will put some ice on it,” Marco van Basten, the Holland coach, said. “We will see what the reaction is, but if it is wrong then in the morning we will have to call up another goalkeeper.” Holland meet Switzerland in a friendly tonight.

Lee Hughes will have to wait to make his debut for Oldham Athletic after being sent off in prison. Hughes, 31, joined the Coca-Cola League One club after his release from jail on Monday, having served half of a six-year sentence for causing death by dangerous driving. But the former West Bromwich Albion striker has one week left to serve of a 35-day suspension for “kicking or striking another player” while playing for the prison team, Featherstone FC, in the Staffordshire County League.