After Melbourne Victory yesterday revealed they had signed the former Reds star on a two-year deal, United released a statement to hit back at criticism from furious Reds fans that the club didn’t do enough to lure the playmaker back to Hindmarsh.

The Reds said their bitter rivals Victory - with a turnover twice the size of theirs - had simply been able to offer him more than they could.

"It has happened to South Australia in other sporting codes and now it has happened here," said the club in a statement.

"Adelaide United FC … refutes any assertion or allegation that the club did not act reasonably or commercially to secure his services within the extremely restricted time frame between the date of the termination of his Chinese contract and today.”

"Adelaide United FC could not have done any more than it did. Had Flores given the club more time to make space within the salary cap, a deal may have been possible. That however did not occur as Flores decided to join Melbourne Victory.”

However Flores’s agents, The Pitch Management, rejected a number of points made by the club.

Adelaide claimed that in June 2011, a contract extension to Flores of $1million for three years was rejected.

“Flores demanded to be released to China citing Melbourne Victory was an option in the January transfer window if he was not released,” said the club.

The Pitch Management said it is not possible for contracted players to move within the A-League in the January window without his current club releasing him voluntarily. “So this is a non-point,” they told au.fourfourtwo.com.

They also stressed that no contract extension was discussed by Adelaide prior to the offer being received from China.

Adelaide also said that in April this year while still under contract in China, The Pitch Management put a proposal to Adelaide United for a $575,000 package per year to return to Adelaide, which the club claim they declined.

The Pitch Management responded: “Firstly, we don’t think it's appropriate to comment on financial details regarding individual’s remuneration which are not only highly personal, but commercial-in-confidence.

"Secondly, back in April we were instructed by the Chinese club, Henan, to look for other opportunities for Marcos as he would find his first team opportunities limited due to the way they wanted to set their team up in future.

"As a priority, given Marcos’s history, we of course approached Adelaide on a first refusal basis in April, as they admit.

"We’re struggling to understand therefore, why Adelaide are referring to an 'extremely restricted time frame between the date of the termination of his Chinese contract and today' to formulate an official offer, as they have known about the situation since April – a period of three months, rather than the two weeks they suggest.”

A month later in May, Adelaide claim they made their highest ever offer for a player or coach for Flores to return to Adelaide. This offer was rejected by Flores’s agents, claimed the club.

“A verbal proposal was discussed which was never formalized in a written form that could be presented to the player, despite our numerous requests to do so," said the star's agents.

'Verbal offers are made all the time in football, but clearly we can only consider an offer to be genuine if it is submitted in writing officially.

“Several other A-League clubs who became aware of Marcos’s availability after his termination in China had no problem with submitting official written offers.

“Again, the admission by the club that discussions took place as far back as May contradicts their assertion that they have only had two weeks to prepare an offer for Marcos.

"Because of his links to the Adelaide fans, under instruction from Marcos, we were at pains to ensure that Adelaide were given the first right of refusal when it became clear that there was an opportunity to potentially bring Marcos back to Australia.“

Adelaide also claimed his agents put another proposal to United last month which was beyond the club’s means.

The Pitch Management said they had received word from Adelaide on June 30 that the club had secured contracts with other players and re-contracted players since initial talks about Flores had begu in April and were now restricted by the salary cap to match his demands.

“Therefore the assumption is that the club decided to prioritise the signing of these other players over the signing of Marcos," said his agents.

"That is their prerogative, but it is incredibly disingenuous to suggest that Marcos has simply jumped ship for more money. One dollar would have been more money than was ever formally presented.

“To draw a line under the matter, let us finish by just stating in the clearest possible terms, that no official written offer was ever made by Adelaide, despite months of urging from us.

"Marcos is deeply disappointed that the club have chosen to handle the issue this way, and he now looks forward to the next stage of his career with Melbourne Victory."

The Flores deal has been greeted with enthusiasm by Melbourne Victory fans. He is set to join up with his new team-mates in two weeks.