Brighton goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak has launched an attack on former club Manchester United.

Kuszczak claims he could have stayed in the Premier League or played at a higher level, had United not demanded more than the fee for which Shay Given was sold by rivals City to Aston Villa.

Kuszczak said: "For the last year, I had the chance to move to many good teams.

"I always said that I want to play, I asked for permission to leave. At United, they said they would let me go. But for five million pounds.

"Shay Given had three years on his deal at City and was sold to Villa for £2m.

"I had one more year at Old Trafford and they wanted £5m. This sum of money was unacceptable.

"It wasn't everything fair from their side. For three years I tried to leave but Sir Alex Ferguson said he needs me. Not everything was down to me. But he was thinking only about his team."