Benitez focuses on new arrivals

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A bid tabled by the Reds for Heinze met United's £6.8million asking price but was give short shrift by boss Sir Alex Ferguson only for reports to later surface the Argentinian full-back was considering legal action to push through the move.

And Benitez indicated that the affair seemed destined to end up in the courts, saying: "We made the offer and they rejected it. Now the lawyers are working on it and we have to wait."

Ferguson had previously insisted the 29-year-old had no chance of joining United's north-west rivals and the Scot reiterated his earlier stance after United's 6-0 pre-season win over Chinese League outfit Shenzhen in Macau, confirming they were investigating the circumstances surrounding the situation.

He said: "Gabriel Heinze will not be joining Liverpool. We are examining some of the statements coming from his agent and when contact was first made with Liverpool.

"We are not happy with the agent's conduct in the matter and we are examining that as well, but it will take a couple of days before we have anything more to say."

For now, Benitez will focus on matters on the pitch against South China as he looks to ease new acquisitions Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun and Andriy Voronin into the side.

And the Spaniard believes the Hong Kong FA Cup champions will provide the ideal test in what will be a hot and humid Hong Kong Stadium as the Merseysiders gear up for the start of their Premier League campaign at Aston Villa on August 11.

"We know they will be fitter, they will be quick and for them it will be a very important game," he said.

"We know that it will be a tough game and we'll try to be ready. We are a serious team, we want to prepare for games properly. We take every game seriously."