Manchester United are increasingly concerned about the long-term future of Gary Neville, who has suffered another setback in his bid to return to competitive action after a nine-month absence, but, while the 32-year-old will be given every opportunity to revive his career, there are to be no such allowances for Wes Brown unless he signs what Sir Alex Ferguson insisted will be the club’s final contract offer.

Brown’s present contract expires at the end of the season and, if no new deal is signed in the meantime, he will be free to negotiate an end-of-season move to an overseas club as of January 1. That is not Brown’s preference, given that he is eager to stay at his home-town club, but it is a scenario that Ferguson was willing to entertain last night, when he confirmed that the defender had rejected United’s first two offers.

“Wes has not agreed anything, which is entirely up to him,” the United manager said. “We’ve made him a good offer, we feel, so it’s up to him. He’s got a final offer and we won’t be going back. We’ve had several meetings with his agent, but they’ve rejected our offer. It’s difficult, as you can imagine, because some agents are difficult. They’ve rejected our last offer, so that’s it. It’s a possibility we’ll lose Wes, so I’m disappointed in that respect, but we’re well covered in defence.”

That is debatable, given the uncertainty over Neville’s future, but Brown’s teammates say that he is relaxed about the matter, if bemused by the club’s stance in playing hardball now, having waited until September to open talks. United took a similar approach when negotiating Brown’s present contract, which was agreed with only seven months remaining on his previous deal. He has asked for a significant improvement on that contract - a raise to about £55,000 a week – which would put him alongside players such as Edwin van der Sar in a middle band of earners on United’s payroll.

Brown’s availability on a free transfer at the end of the season would spark a scramble among Barclays Premier League clubs, with Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United among those who have shown interest in the past, albeit under different management.

Although seldom regarded as a first-team regular at Old Trafford, Brown has been a fixture at right back in Neville’s absence. Ferguson speaks highly of Danny Simpson and Gerard Piqué, two young defenders – he also has high hopes for Rafael and Fábio Silva, the 17-year-old Brazilian twins, who are due to arrive from Fluminese in January – but Brown has started all but one of United’s 15 league matches this season and is likely to do against Derby County at Old Trafford this afternoon.

It is just as well that Brown’s injuries appear to be a thing of the past, given Neville’s struggle to overcome the ankle problem that has kept him out of action since March. The club captain has also suffered with hamstring and knee injuries, restricting him to a solitary run-out at reserve-team level, but, having been pencilled in to play away to AS Roma in the Champions League on Wednesday, he has been sent back to a specialist because of another setback, this time to an ankle.

“Gary has unfortunately had another setback and we’re disappointed with that,” Ferguson said. “He’s been back to the specialist and I can’t be positive on that at all. It’s not a serious thing that’s happened, but it is a setback. The injury was operated on six or seven months ago, so, given he’s still not back, it is a concern.

“We are sure we’ll get Gary back all right, but the worry we have with him is he keeps getting these niggling problems. So I think it’s a question of going back to square one and starting all over again, which is what we’ll do. We don’t yet know whether he’ll need another operation.”