Spanish Inquisition

The dispute over the future of Carlos Tevez has been scheduled for the High Court on 22 August. The court date was set at the preliminary hearing this morning and it would mean the 23-year-old missing the first three games of the season but should ensure he can still join United before the transfer window shuts on 31 August. Joorabchian's lawyers have applied to the court for an interim injunction in a bid to speed up the legal process. Barrister Charles Hollander QC stressed the need to hear the injunction element of the case before the transfer window closes on 31 August. He said: "The end of the transfer window is looming and Manchester United may be starting to look in other directions." Should they win, the ruling would allow Tevez to move to Old Trafford with the financial elements of the dispute sorted out at a later trial. West Ham oppose the injunction, claiming their third-party agreement with Joorabchian is legally "invalid and unenforceable", but the club made no attempt to block the fast-track process.

A High Court judge will now deliberate on the arguments at the three-day injunction hearing when Tevez, along with Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore and West Ham director Scott Duxbury, are expected to be cross-examined. "Does Mr Tevez speak English?" Justice Blackburne asked at today's hearing; having clearly not seen the player's post-match interview at Ewood Park. "Not much," exaggerated Joorabchian's barrister, Charles Hollander QC, before the judge suggested employing a translator. Defending West Ham, Michael Bowsher QC revealed the club intend to challenge the "authenticity" of a key document relating to the third-party agreement signed by Joorabchian, Tevez and Duxbury. It was suggested in court that handwriting experts may even be called upon to support their argument over the validity of the contract. Bowsher said: "The signatures of these individuals other than those signatures from West Ham were not made on the date purported to be made on and that is relevant."

Though a hearing date has been set, West Ham and the Premier League are still hopeful of an out-of-court settlement. "We have taken the steps in case this matter is to go through the courts - this does not preclude an out-of-court settlement. But it is no more or less likely now," said a West Ham spokesman. A statement on the official site reads: "West Ham United will continue to work on achieving an out-of-court settlement on the issues relating to Carlos Tevez. However, if a settlement, to be agreed by all parties, is not possible then the Club will present a very robust legal case to the High Court if the matter comes before the court on August 22nd."

The Subpoena

Kia Joorabchian, who fronts the two companies that hold Carlos Tevéz’s “economic rights”, Media Sports Investments (MSI) and Just Sports Inc (JSI), will turn up the pressure on West Ham United today when he serves the particulars of claim documents at the High Court, detailing allegations about how the club breached their contract. The companies issued a writ against the club last week, seeking the court’s intervention to compel West Ham to release the registration of Tevéz in accordance with a contract that was agreed last summer when he and Mascherano arrived at Upton Park. Those deals were deemed to be in breach of Premier League rules by a commission that fined West Ham £5.5 million in April. MSI and JSI will ask the court for a quick hearing, arguing that the extensive delay is causing hardship to Tevéz and preventing him from playing football and earning a living.

According to The Times, West Ham United have offered the companies £5 million in exchange for the release of the registration of the player. However, MSI and JSI are likely to reject that proposal because the contract between the parties said that they would pay West Ham £100,000 should Tevéz leave this summer. Matt Scott, writing in The Guardian, states that while the prospect of an out-of-court settlement remains on the table, the fact MSI-JSI are defending their interests so staunchly makes its hard to see how this will materialise. By the same token, the Premier League is concerned with protecting its reputation and it is worried that if West Ham do not receive adequate money from the transfer, it will appear that the third-party agreement between the club and Joorabchian for Tevéz was not ripped up.

If MSI-JSI pursue their legal action against West Ham then Richard Scudamore may face a grilling in the high court. The Premier League chief executive is likely to be subpoenaed to explain the role of the organisation in an increasingly complex legal battle over the ownership of the Argentina forward. Lawyers for the companies are believed to want to know why the League gave West Ham the option of ripping up the contract with Tévez’s owners to allow him to play in the final three games of the season, helping the club to avoid relegation. The League also gave West Ham the option of amending the contracts, which may have meant Tevéz missing at least one match while the paperwork was ratified. The third option was of not playing the forward. The companies’ lawyers will also want to know what communication took place between the League and West Ham in the past year since the League queried how the club had managed to secure the services of Tevéz and Javier Mascherano, Tevéz’s Argentina teammate, so cheaply and whether there were any documents that Scudamore had not seen. In addition, MSI-JSI want to know if any previously undisclosed circumstances prompted the switch of the Hammers' plea from not guilty to guilty at the April disciplinary hearing.

Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted his protracted pursuit of Carlos Tevez is proving slightly frustrating. "I am not worried because I am confident the player will eventually arrive," he said. "But it has been dragging on and it has become a bit frustrating. At the moment it is going to the High Court. I am sure we will get a final decision on the matter there. But if something happens before that, it is something we would welcome. The deadline is coming up at the end of August, so we do have to think about alternative plans that way. I just want the matter settled, the sooner the better as far as everyone is concerned. I am sure even West Ham think that way. They have their own plans and they have done a lot of buying and selling, so they will want some kind of conclusion in terms of how their team is shaping up."

The Compromise

The Carlos Tevez saga could edge closer to a conclusion today with the Premier League's chairman, Sir Dave Richards, apparently having indicated a softer line from his organisation. Central to the recent progress is what should be perceived as the market value of Tevez, which would nominally be upwards of £20million. But meetings took place last week between West Ham United and Richards, in which the Hammers argued that there are several mitigating factors which reduce his value to them; namely the threat of court action and the fact that the player has already declared his desire to leave. Matt Scott, writing in The Guardian, states Richards has indicated a readiness to relinquish the demand that, having torn up the contracts with Media Sports Investment and Just Sports Inc that governed Tevez's career, the club should treat him as their own asset and demand a market-rate fee for him to move to Manchester United.

The Mail suggest West Ham will instead demand £6million compensation from Kia Joorabchian to give up Carlos Tevez's registration and allow him to become a United player. The solution proposed by West Ham would see Joorabchian, through his companies MSI and Just Sports Inc, pay the club money to cover the remaining three years of Tevez's contract. That figure would also cover the fine imposed by the Premier League for a breach of regulations regarding third-party ownership. The article states the Iran-born businessman is currently only willing to pay £100,000 as stipulated in the original deal and that there would appear to be some hard bargaining to be done over the next 36 hours. According to The Sun, there remains little room for negotiation. Mark Irwin insists the £6million fee is not an arbitrary sum but rather the minimum the Premier League will allow Hammers to be paid for Tevez’s registration to avoid further disciplinary charges.

The Mirror's Martin Lipton believes that while League bosses are likely to agree with West Ham's proposal that would see the East End club given a £5.5million compensation fee to release Tevez's playing registration, their intransigence over the figure will almost certainly collapse the deal. It is his understanding that the proposed offer has already been dismissed out-of-hand by Kia Joorabchian, who is now convinced that the League would be so embarrassed by the outcome of a High Court hearing that they will do anything to avoid the matter going that far. The likely result is an impasse that seems certain in guaranteeing the case will go all the way - and leave Tevez in limbo and with no club to play for until January.

The Times have a different take on things and claim at the end of last week West Ham’s lawyers proposed a settlement which would see the club paid as little as £1 million, stopping the legal action brought by Joorabchian for terminating the controversial third-party agreements setting out his economic rights over the player in April. While Kia Joorabchian and United believe it is wrong that West Ham should receive any fee for a player they do not legally own, they know that it may be the only way to ensure his move to Old Trafford goes through in this transfer window. Graham Shear, the lawyer acting on behalf of Joorabchian, confirmed yesterday that he would consider a settlement which allows the player to start the new Premiership season with United.

The Guardian reiterate that the Premier League would have to be satisfied that West Ham have received 'adequate' compensation to head off any further litigation by Sheffield United. The league's board - Richards, the chief executive, Richard Scudamore, and the general secretary, Mike Foster - will meet today to discuss any new proposal. It is envisaged that the offshore companies would then be permitted to receive a transfer fee from Manchester United, with whom terms have been agreed on the prospective move, which could be closer to his market value. Any deal will be approved only if Richards can persuade Scudamore - who handed over responsibility for the talks to his chairman before flying to Hong Kong for the Asia Trophy last week - and Foster of its effectiveness.

If all parties cannot agree a fee then a date in the High Court beckons on Wednesday after Joorabchian, who has insisted that he still holds the economic rights to the Argentine striker, issued a writ in an effort to force the Hammers to give up the player's registration. If court action is forced, states The Guardian, Tevez could spend the first five months of the season on the sidelines while lawyers debate who owns him. Should the courts decide after the start of the season that the contract that prevails is held by MSI-JSI and not that registration document held by West Ham, then in principle there is nothing to prevent his move to Old Trafford with the companies taking the money. However, should they find in favour of West Ham, he would not be able to move until the January transfer window when West Ham would be the sole beneficiary of any fee.

KUMB Q&A: Alan Curbishley (part two)

Here is the second part of an exclusive interview given by Alan Curbishley on the recent pre-season tour of Austria. It is taken from KUMB and credit goes to Gary Jones and Colin Wells for their excellent work in making this happen...

KUMB.com: On transfers Alan – do you work out a list of targets with Eggert?

Alan Curbishley: Yeah. I have nothing to do with the finances - Scott Duxbury deals with transfers and [when signing a player] if we get him, we get him. If he’s too expensive, or if they think it’s getting out of hand then they’ll call me into it and we’ll have a discussion. It’s totally different to what I did at Charlton – there I did the lot, and I don’t feel that that’s my brief at the moment. So much goes into a transfer – it doesn’t happen in a day, it can take weeks - Bellamy took two weeks, and it goes on …

KUMB: And why is that – because of the player’s agent, or different circumstances?

AC: They don’t need to haggle over a price because we pose the price first. When the club are saying ‘no’ then it becomes difficult as transfers are protracted now.

KUMB: Why do you think that is?

AC: Because it’s so hard to get a player. You know, you let a player go and you’ve got to get that cover in straight away or …

KUMB: Is it because of the transfer windows?

AC: No. It’s so difficult to get a player - a lot of clubs are just saying ‘no’ and they don’t want a deal. Not just to us but to everybody; there’s not been a lot of transfers at all [this summer].

KUMB: Do you find that at the moment that the same clubs are going for the same type of players?

AC: Yeah, but that’s always the same. The newly promoted clubs will go for players that have just been relegated or players that have done well at other teams in the lower end of it because they can attract them and they can pay the fees and wages. It’s all relative. There are a lot of people, as I said last week, that would like us not just to walk before we could crawl but run before we can crawl - and there’s a big difference in expectation levels. If you look at it our biggest fee has been £7.5million - we’ve took more in. Other clubs have paid more in fees and wages to players than we could so it isn’t an OK Corale, it isn’t like …

KUMB: … the Leeds situation?

AC: No. We’re not irresponsible, during this window we’ve taken as much as we’ve spent. Obviously Christmas was different - we were in trouble and if you care to look at the players we brought in I’m looking at the right age, I’m looking at the right experience, and the right characters for us. At the moment we’ve just replaced people, but there’s still another five weeks to go to see if we can bring someone else in.

KUMB: The expectation levels are high - my son has gone through a number of threads on KUMB and it’s a common theme. What’s a realistic aim for next year Alan?

AC: Top ten. I think that mid-table for us is where we should be - not forgetting what happened to us last year. But we’ve got players that are good enough for us to have a solid season. If we have a solid season that makes us a little bit more attractive for next year and people start to know about us. We’ve got to get that. There’s a lot of negativity around us, there was a lot of negativity all last year and most of the press was negative. We’ve got to spin that around by what we do on the pitch and hopefully we’ll do that this year. That’s not being negative, top ten’s a decent position …

KUMB: I’d be well pleased with that.

AC: I think a lot of people will look at that and go ‘ooh, that’s negative’ – but it’s not, it’s a proper expectation level for us and if we do a little bit better then fine, if we do a little bit worse than that, that’s disappointing. You know, if you finish mid-table and turn three draws into three wins you’re around Europe. From being in Europe to being in the relegation battle is only 12 points [or so].

KUMB: Yeah, it’s a fine line.

AC: You know, if we end up having the season where we gather six to eight points more than we did last year, and instead of finishing fifth from bottom we finish mid-table ... But I asked Eggert for assurance that if it goes belly up he would be backing it - and he assured me he was, and he assured all the staff at Upton Park through that run that he was in a big meeting. He announced [his plans], and they’re not short term.

KUMB: Has he got a good business plan?

AC: Yeah. I think he’s a little bit misunderstood, he needs to get out around the supporter’s clubs. I think he needs to get out and express himself a bit more but he’s not here for the quick fix - he wants to build a club.

KUMB: He’s a football man as well …

AC: He’s got more football knowledge than most people give him credit for, and he’s been around football all his life.

KUMB: He was on UEFA’s Executive Committee, of course.

AC: Yeah, and he knows players and he’s got a lot of contacts. You know, I asked him two things – ‘if it goes wrong are you going to back it?’ and ‘is it a long term plan with solid foundations?’ I reminded him that West Ham have yo-yo’d the last ten years …

KUMB: Yeah we know that!

AC: They’ve yo-yo’d, you know. Charlton were like that but every year we just got a little bit stronger. We’re not talking about Tottenham but in the last four to five years you can see what they’ve managed to do - they’ve stabilised themselves and then they’ve gone for the best young talent. They’ve bought well and that’s gradually improved them. West Ham have been too much like that. Someone told me recently how they got two tickets for the Cup Final for a friend. They came to the game and they said it was the best day, even though they lost. They said, ‘I can say I was there’, because it was a celebration, you know. When you think of West Ham it is highs and lows - and when they get a high they do get high! The story I got was that there were so many limousines and whatever turning up at the Millennium that you couldn’t believe it - it was just unbelievable. They were making a day of it and they enjoyed themselves. When West Ham fans enjoy themselves they enjoy themselves - and when there are down, they’re down.

I had some Charlton fans come in for the run-in and they’ve not heard a noise. They said the noise and the atmosphere at Upton Park for the Everton and Bolton games was unbelievable. All I’ve said to the players - especially the ones coming in – is that if you give the fans something to get behind they’ll get behind it and if you’re not giving them anything then they’ll let you know. I don’t see a problem with that and I did say that when I was getting heavily criticised. It’s when [the media] were criticising things that happen every day on the training ground and when they were fabricating, sensationalising things - that was when it was getting out of hand. But you know, I had no problem with the criticism I was getting.

KUMB: But on that point Alan, and as you know, at the Charlton game there were a lot of West Ham fans singing ‘there’s only one Alan Pardew’. Did that bother you?

AC: Well, no - it was a lot of friction between fans.

KUMB: We found it very disrespectful, you know. What are your thoughts on that?

AC: It’s difficult to say because I done fifteen years at Charlton and I think the Charlton fans wanted to give me a good reception, but they couldn’t because the game was so important.

KUMB: Well, it was a big game …

AC: Well, we got walloped and the obvious thing is to do that. As I said earlier in the interview Alan Pardew done great for West Ham, he turned it around. You know, the signings he had to make, he had to sell big and buy small if you like.

KUMB: He got a good core of young players in from other clubs.

AC: Yeah, but sometimes that’s easier to work. When you can only shop at a certain supermarket it’s easier than perhaps when you’re being given some money to spend and your market may be different areas. But that’s what I said after the Bolton game; I didn’t think that anything was going to happen at West Ham. I don’t think the fans did and I don’t think Pards did but these things happen, you know. It’s difficult, but it was obvious things were going on that I had no control of and I just felt ‘well I can't do anything about this.’

KUMB: What is it like working in a situation where money is no object compared to your previous managerial role at Charlton?

AC: Well, I think that’s wrong because if you look at what we’ve done, as I said, Bellamy is the biggest price at £7.5million, which [is less than we received] for Nigel Reo-Coker. There’s lots of talk about what we’re supposed to have done and what we’re supposed to be doing. As for the wages people are purporting that we’re paying – well, if we were paying those wages we would have had whoever we wanted coming in to the club.

KUMB: Does that include people like Darren Bent?

AC: Yeah, we would have had whoever. It’s just that they’ve latched onto something - I’ve read somewhere that we were offering someone £85,000 a week, but we hadn’t even spoke to Everton about anything. You know, it’s just something to write. But it is different to Charlton.

KUMB: Because of the status of West Ham United?

AC: I think because Eggert’s come in and because we’ve got big backers and lots of money. But once again, Bellamy is the biggest fee £7.5million, Parker’s the next one at £7 million; Faubert and Upson at £6million. At Christmas, when we obviously had to do things to change it around, the fees we were paying then we thought would be normal this year because of the extra money coming in - and we’ve been proved right. But we’re happy with what we’ve done. We’ve lost out on players because other clubs have paid them more, so if it was a question of money then we would have won it. But I think we’re being sensible, we know what we’re trying to do.

KUMB: On those signings – Craig Bellamy?

I think Bellamy’s got a lot to prove. I’ve said it to him, ‘you’ve got a reputation which I think is not quite right but the only way you’ll turn that around is by becoming a hero at Upton Park so they talk about you about your football as opposed to anything else’. If you care to look at him, I think there was only one bust-up and that was at Newcastle. If you look at his record, it’s quite clear. Norwich, young up-and-coming player, they sold him; Coventry got relegated so they had to sell him; Newcastle, Bobby Robson bought him and with another manager it didn’t work out. He then goes to Celtic and does fantastic at Blackburn. Liverpool activated the get out clause, he then goes to Liverpool, has a year and there are no rows there. He’s had no fights there, no discrepancies or anything. I’ve done my background into it. They’ve changed, they’ve gone and bought different players - and he’s left.

I said, ‘if you come to us the West Ham fans will love you if you do what you do. They don’t want to hear anything else, they just want you to do what’s right’. So he comes I think a little bit angry and hungry. Parker does too because he played for England eight months ago. I’m saying to him, ‘you’ve got to get back to what you were doing at Charlton. You played like two men to get away, now you’ve got to play like two men to get back in the England squad’. He is a different character completely.

KUMB: The ultimate professional?

AC: Totally, he sets the tempo in training.

KUMB: They looked good in training, I mean, all of them are up for it.

AC: I think Faubert has every ingredient you want from a wide player. It’s unfortunate what has happened to him. But I count Upson as a massive new signing, I think in the 30 minutes he played you could see he was a player, Ashton’s like a new signing - when he gets himself 100% right - and Gabbidon too. My first game was Man U and we had fitness tests for Ferdinand and Collins the day before. They both said they were fit. Next game Collins was out and Christian Dailly went in with Ferdinand. Then we brought Gabbidon back, he lasted a couple of games and then him and Collins were both injured in the same game against Fulham. We lost Tevez that game as well so things were going on which people completely forgot about - but we were getting smashed in every which way.

KUMB: Was there a fitness issue with the players?

AC: I can only talk about what is happening now, and I think that they’ve attacked the pre-season. We got to the summer and I thought it was the right time to have a change around. Pardew wanted some of these people, I wanted some of mine and I felt that the summer was the only time to do it. The six months I had working with other people’s staff and other people’s players wasn’t a bed of roses, I must admit - but I got on with it. I just felt that we had to get through it and then when we got to the summer it would sort itself out. So there’s been a bit of a turnaround now.

KUMB: So this is your team now?

AC: It’s my backroom staff - and I feel all the players here today want to be here.

Captain Neill

Lucas Neill says he is honoured to become the captain of West Ham United and hopes it will finally silence his detractors. Neill was heavily criticised last January after he rejected a move to Liverpool and opted for a move to east London, although West Ham were facing a relegation battle at the time. Doubters suggested the Australian international chose Upton Park because of the salary he was reportedly offered but Neill demonstrated his commitment by fighting his way back from injury to help keep the club in the Premier League. "I think my decision has been vindicated to some extent," he said. "I don’t need to prove anything to anybody and being announced as the captain shows I was always going to be part of this team. It wasn't ever promised, but I was told I would be important. If I was only joining for money, I would have sat on the sidelines and just picked up my wages. I didn't do that. I got in the trenches and helped dig us out. Now I’m hoping the gamble comes good because chairman Eggert Magnusson is ambitious and the manager is hungry. We want to achieve much bigger and better things this season."

Neill, who returned to pre-season training at Upton Park yesterday following international duty with Australia in the Asia Cup, insists he just wants to pay West Ham back for the desire they showed to sign him. "I’ll lead on the training ground and not take second best," he declared. "Not in a ranting, raving way, just give people constructive criticism . . . I’ll just be an Aussie! Being captain is a massive honour for me. Some huge names have led this club. To be on that list is phenomenal. Bobby Moore was obviously one of the most famous captains in the history of the game and I know I’m nowhere near his level, but to be given this honour is truly something special. It’s an opportunity you never usually dream of getting."

The 28-year-old Australian defender, who is also captain of his national team, was always seen by many as the natural successor to Nigel Reo-Coker, who recently joined Aston Villa. He got the nod ahead of fellow national captains Freddie Ljungberg of Sweden and Craig Bellamy of Wales as well as new signing Scott Parker, who was Newcastle skipper. The Aussie says expects his team-mates to give him a kick up the backside if he is not doing the business; dangerous words I would have thought given the reputations of some of those he will be leading. "It’s fine if people kick me up the bum because I’m not always going to be perfect all the time," stated Neill. "I’m going to have some bad games but as long as we stick together we’ll be okay. That’s the message I want to get across — we have to stick together in the dressing-room. If people step out of line, then we’re open to each other’s criticism and to push each other to greater heights. The more leaders we’ve got, the more people know how to win games. I’ve been captain a few times before so like to think managers like my attitude and the way I try to play the game with a bit of passion. There are a few leaders in this team so I’m sure we’ll be relying on a few of us rather than just one. I prefer a noisy dressing room to a quiet one, as long as it’s a constructive and positive noise. I can’t see it being overly aggressive or too much feuding but I think behind the scenes the mood will be determined with a lot of winners."

Alan Curbishley explained his decision on the official site: "I'm pleased to confirm Lucas as the new team captain of West Ham United. He has all the qualities needed to captain a Club of this stature. He understands the role, has been used to it with Blackburn Rovers and Australia, and I'm sure it is an appointment that everybody at the Club is happy with."

Further reading: Turmoil tearing at Neill; Civil war splits Socceroos;

KUMB Q&A: Alan Curbishley (part one)

Here is the first part of an exclusive interview given by Alan Curbishley on the recent pre-season tour of Austria. It is taken from KUMB and credit goes to Gary Jones and Colin Wells for their excellent work in making this happen...

Alan Curbishley took time out during the recent pre-season tour of Austria to talk to Gary Jones and Colin Wells. In the first of a three-part interview, Curbs talks about the 'Great Escape', Raymond Domenech and a certain job offer in 2001 ...

KUMB.com: Alan – thanks for agreeing to talk to us. We're going to ask you some questions about the circumstances of you becoming manager, pre-season, the run-in last season and expectations for next year.

Alan Curbishley: Yeah, fine.

KUMB: The first question we’ve got came from one of the supporters - when the West Ham job came up, did you apply personally for it or did the chairman come calling?

AC: I was actually doing a Bolton v West Ham game live for Sky, and obviously West Ham got beat 4-0. That was a Saturday night. I went out to dinner that night with my elder brother, who was over in London, and got back late in the early hours of Sunday morning. As we left the restaurant, “God”, he said, “West Ham are having a bit of a hard time - if anything happens there you might get a phone call!” We just laughed about it, you know, didn’t think too much of it. Then, about half past ten on Monday morning, I had a phone call - and it was Scott Duxbury.

I knew Paul Aldridge and I knew Terry Brown, but I didn’t know Scott Duxbury. I never returned the call and he phoned again and said “I’m Scott Duxbury, Chief Executive for West Ham and I want to talk to you.” And then the news broke; I think it was about 11 o’clock, Monday morning. So I phoned him back and he said “we’re looking for a manager, Alan Pardew has left the club, would you be interested?” And it went from there. So it was about Monday morning when I first heard about it, after the Bolton game. We got together Monday night and it proceeded from there.

There had been previous contact [with West Ham] when Harry [Redknapp] left, which was a big surprise to everybody - least of all me, because I knew he was on the verge of signing a new four year contract. I was at Charlton at the time and also on the verge of signing a new contract; in the end I decided to stay at Charlton. There was a bit of talk that perhaps West Ham would be interested but I think Steve McLaren came into the picture a little bit and I felt that, you know, I had a bit more to do at Charlton really and decided that I was going to honour the contract that I had agreed. I hadn’t signed it, by the way, but I agreed it in the end and stayed at Charlton.

I met Scott and Eggert on that Monday evening and it was like going on a blind date - I had never met Scott before and obviously I had never met Eggert before.

KUMB: So what were your initial thoughts after you got the phone call? When did you think ‘yep, this is it?’

AC: Well, my initial thought was that I’d let it go once - and I wasn’t going to let it go again. That was the first thing. I had resigned myself to the fact that I was another year off, you know, I’d done six months and in all fairness I couldn’t see anything coming up that would have been attractive. I know West Ham were going through a bad time but I didn’t think anything would happen there, bearing in mind what had happened in previous seasons. I didn’t think that there’d be a change so it was a surprise when it happened. But when they contacted me and said that there was a vacancy, that’s when I decided to talk to them.

KUMB: Did you receive any other job offers?

AC: Yes I did, yeah. I had opportunities to talk to two Premiership clubs.

KUMB: Can you name them?

AC: Not really! But obviously there were vacancies in the summer. That summer it was quite strange, there were four vacancies I think - Charlton, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough. There were four clubs that didn’t have a manager which was a big percentage of the Premiership, if you like. It doesn’t normally happen like that but I wanted to take the break, I wanted to have at least six months off so I felt …

KUMB: Well, it was the best part of 15 years with Charlton wasn’t it, more than that …

AC: 16 years - one as a player/coach and the other fifteen as a manager. I just felt I’d reached a situation where I needed to leave and they needed to move on. It was amicable when I left . But as I say, I didn’t see anything happening - even though West Ham were having a bad time, I still didn’t see anything happening there. I looked at other clubs that might be attractive but thought I’d be going into Christmas having my first Christmas at home.

KUMB: I think that was the general consensus from all of us. Although we were on a bad run we didn’t feel there was going to be a change - we didn’t see it coming.

AC: No. You know, when you find yourself in the bottom three, you have to get out round about Christmas because if you don’t then it’s a struggle. Once you’re in for that half a season then it’s difficult to get out. You know, you can win a couple of games and then lose a couple and you go straight back in it again. It’s very difficult to get out of it.

I never really asked the reasons why there was a vacancy. I signed Alan Pardew as a player; he was one of my first ever signings at Charlton and he was with me for four years. Over the years he had done a bit of scouting for us and we’d been together on Charlton vet football matches etc. - and we were close. So I didn’t think anything was going to happen there - but these things do happen.

KUMB: Following on from that, as a lifelong Hammer, you must have been delighted about the job?

AC: Yeah. I mean, I did look at it coldly and just on a pure football thing - forget anything else …

KUMB: Was it hard to do a job like that?

AC: No - I divorced myself from it because I know how difficult it is when you are in the bottom three. West Ham had played 17 games and had 14 points, so they needed to get to 40 points - 26 points from 21 games, which sounds easy enough but it’s not. I looked at the fixtures and I looked at the squad. I hadn’t seen West Ham play live that year but I’d seen games on TV and knew that there was enough there to stay up. That was my first thought, that there was enough there to stay up. The one thing I didn’t take into consideration was the responsibility of the job...

KUMB: Yeah, I can remember you saying that …

AC: As a player, and as an opposing player, and as an opposing manager I know what West Ham’s all about. But I didn’t realise until I actually got inside how much it means, and the responsibility of being the manager. It wasn’t a shock, but I quickly realised that this was a different set of rules I was working under.

KUMB: Did you ever think ‘what have I done?’ at any point after you arrived? Did you ever consider quitting?

AC: No. I think the Charlton game was my lowest point on that run. Not because it was Charlton - that was secondary - but because of the performance against a team that was in trouble with us. It was a massive game - when you are in the bottom three or four the games against teams around you are massive. We lost to Watford and Charlton on the spin - and that was my lowest point …

KUMB: I think it was for us as well …

AC: But I never, ever thought anything other than that we were going to get out of it. It was tough, I must admit - but I never thought that there was any other way to go about it. My biggest problem was that I was learning about the players in the first team. Nothing we tried seemed to work; we brought players in and they got injured straight away. The whole thing was never settled. If you look at it, the only time it was settled was from the Tottenham game onwards. There were only two changes to the team thereafter -Yossi Benayoun and Matthew Etherington. The rest stayed the same for the [last] ten games which made a big difference.

From the first game it was constantly changing and we were getting inconsistent team performances, inconsistent team selections and inconsistent results. But the one thing that was consistent - and I’m not saying this to butter anyone up - was the fans. It was quite easy to turn off but they still turned up in numbers home and away. So for me the lowest point, for sure, was the Charlton game. But funnily enough the turning point was the Tottenham game, the next game up.

KUMB: So not the result at Blackburn?

AC: No - I saw more in the Tottenham game than I had seen before. I was really pleased with the Man United and Fulham performances as I thought we had lift off. We had two home games coming up, Portsmouth and Man City and I thought ‘we’ve got a chance here, if we can just nick a win it will get us out of the bottom three’. But we lost both of them, then we went to Reading …

But no, it was the Tottenham game where Tevez got his first goal. There were lots of good performances; Noble coming into the team, Lucas Neill coming back, Upson played - and went out again. We had a bit about us, you know, and didn’t deserve to lose. It was the first time I could go to the next game without making loads of changes. I think if you look at the side that played in the run-in, it’s seven changes. No disrespect to those who played but it was seven changes to the Charlton team, and it was the first time in that run in that I could keep a settled side. Along with that came better performances. But it was the Tottenham game. I know we got done in the last five minutes, and I think a lot of people thought that was it; you know, a lot of people around me …

KUMB: A point wasn’t good enough - is that why you went for it?

AC: The players went for it, I didn’t go for it. But if you look at it, in the last minute we had a corner and everyone went up for it - and we got done on the break. But you know, that was the turning point because I was driving home from that game thinking they’ve shown me some of the things that everyone’s been saying about them.

We had had no luck up until the Blackburn game - no luck whatsoever. We had beaten Fulham with ten men in the 95th minute, we were beating Newcastle 2-0 then had the Scotty Parker offside decision - everything what could go wrong was going wrong. But that’s the first time I came out of a game with some positives.

KUMB: I would like to say a big sincere thanks from at least one supporter for saving our skins last season. I think you said that you know players didn’t get enough credit because of the media etc and therefore we’d like to thank you …

AC: Well, I don’t look back on it as a triumph. I mean, I’ve got two really good friends who are mad West Ham fans and I was sort of left alone when I was the Charlton manager - but we go out regular and I could see what it meant to everybody. But I couldn’t take too much out of it because my finger was on a lot of it - do you understand what I’m saying? I had 21 games to get those points so I couldn’t take pleasure from it. I wouldn’t say it was a miracle, but to win seven out of nine was just incredible …

KUMB: Champion League’s form?

AC: Yeah. Obviously we had some tough games where we tactically deserved to win, but I thought we started making our own luck a little bit - and that is what happens when you start playing regular and results start going for you. You seem to get a bit of luck; when it’s going poorly for you, you get no luck. In that run-in we got a bit of luck but we got the consistency in team selection and once we had found something … I mean, I don’t think any of us could forget Wigan - the players will never forget Wigan …

KUMB: I don’t think Eddie will either, we saw him afterwards …

AC: Yeah, I heard about that! But for me it started with the Alan Ball thing. I don’t think the Wigan fans knew what was happening - there were 6 or 7,000 West Ham fans and they started singing ‘Alan Ball’.

But you can call it whatever you want - the great escape, a miracle … all I think is that it happened and it’s resigned to history. We came fifth from bottom or whatever it was, we’re a Premiership club and whatever went on before is gone. The interesting thing for me is that apart from Lucas Neill it was the same players in most of those games in the run-in. It just showed you perhaps not all West Ham fans were thinking, you know, how are we in this mess when we’ve got these players?

KUMB: Yeah, the same ones that got us to a Cup Final …

AC: The same ones.

In the play-off years I came and watched a few games. In the Championship they were pressurised games, especially playing at Upton Park where you are expected to win every week. It wasn’t going so well, but they got to the play-off final and lost it - then won it the following year. Then they had a great season and got to an FA Cup Final. So big games weren’t a problem for these players. What was a problem was those in for a spin - because we’d never lost four on a spin. In the last four years, two seasons in the old first division, if you like, and two years in the Premiership, they never went four games on the spin without a win - because you don’t do that in the first division.

But in the Premiership you do, and it’s hard to get out of it. I don’t think the players had the know-how to get out of it. Before I came I think they went eight games on the spin and didn’t score a goal. When I look at the players now I think they’ve been through it a bit, and I’m hoping it’s going to hold them in good stead. I don’t expect seven [wins] out of nine to start with next year but the players have been through the mill and they’re still young. If you look at Lucas he‘s one of the oldest in the squad; the rest of them are young and that’s what I’ve been saying all along - that I wanted players in between the young talent just to bring them through – players like Collinson.

KUMB: Collinson played the other day?

AC: Yeah, and we’ve got some good kids coming through. I was on holiday when West Ham got beat in the Cup Final. But I knew the next year was going to be different.

KUMB: Second year syndrome …

AC: Well, Wigan had it; when I was with Charlton we went up with Ipswich, Charlton finished ninth and Ipswich finished fifth - the next season Charlton finished ninth and Ipswich went down …

KUMB: That’s right …

AC: That second year is difficult - you’re not an unknown quantity. In the first year you know the players who you are playing against but they don’t know who they’re playing against. It’s a little bit different in the second year.

When Keith Peacock came over to join Pards I had a brief conversation with him and I said ‘ you have got to realise that last year was last year’. I think a lot of people left their thoughts at the Millennium, and when they came to pre-season they were still thinking of Cup Finals when they should have been thinking about Charlton first game. It was a learning curve for everybody and I think that we’ve got some ardent players now. The Ferdinands of this world have been through the mill in the last three or four years - hopefully it will hold them in good stead.

KUMB: Whose idea was it to come to Austria?

AC: I always go away for a week somewhere pre-season. I’m big on pre-season, I like to train hard and over the years I’ve not lost too many players in pre-season. If I have lost a player it’s been in circumstances that you can't control. If we had lost someone with a groin, thigh or hamstring I could probably say we pushed them too hard - but Faubert’s Achilles …

KUMB: Do you know how long he’ll be out for?

AC: Christmas. Someone did text me saying ‘well what else can go wrong?’ You sign a player to then lose him for six months. Quashie is still out after he got injured against Spurs, Davenport had five weeks out … it happens, you know, but you’ve just got to get on with it. [Faubert] made a big impression on everybody in the two weeks [before his injury] because of his aggression and his fitness levels.

KUMB: We saw him at Dagenham, he looked quick and strong.

AC: I’d say he was a cross between Trevor Sinclair and Steve Stone. He’s an attacking midfield player, and he’s played a lot at right-back so he understands the game. It’s a big hit for us but we’ve just got to move on and hopefully he will recover.

KUMB: What did you make of the comment by the French national manager about Faubert being stupid to sign?

AC: He had a couple of clubs he could have gone to – Rangers, and Roma I think. But he chose West Ham. We were delighted with that - but these things happen, don’t they …

Anelka Next?

Reports in two papers this morning name Nicolas Anelka as the the latest striker set for a big money move to West Ham United. The Mail claim the Hammers have already bid a club-record £12million for the Bolton forward as they seek the attacking spearhead to lead their ambitious assault on the top six. Meanwhile, Sam Wallace, writing in The Independent, believes Anelka will be offered the club's biggest pay deal to move to Upton Park but is under the impression that a bid of £6million will be enough to tempt Bolton into selling. In both cases, it is thought the France international will command wages of £90,000 a week as the Premier League's new television deal takes effect.

The West Ham chairman has already missed out on signing Andy Johnson and Darren Bent this summer, says Wallace, but the club believe they have a real chance with Anelka, 28, who has been told by Bolton Wanderers that he can leave at the right price. Sammy Lee said at the weekend that he would allow Anelka to go as long as the club he was joining was playing in the Champions League, although Bolton are understood to be flexible on that count. "He told me he wants Champions League football," Lee said. "But if a Champions League club showed an interest, it would be wrong to stand in his way. I'm not in the business of getting rid of our best players, but I have to be fair to everybody. If the deal was fair to all parties, I would not stop him." There is a slightly different tune being sung in The Sun, with Lee insisting Bolton have no intention of cashing in on their prize asset, but I'll leave that to one side for the moment.

West Ham would be Anelka's eighth major European club - he has had two spells at Paris St-Germain - and his fifth in English football. Despite his constant restlessness, he has always proved himself a reliable goalscorer, if not the life and soul of the clubs he has played for. The France striker was also top scorer at the Reebok last season with 12 goals from 38 games after signing from Fenerbahce for a club record £8million. When Arsene Wenger was looking for Thierry Henry's replacement this summer it is thought he seriously considered a move for Anelka. The Mail claim the player was also on Manchester United's wish-list earlier in the summer and Newcastle, under former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce, have monitored his progress, too. While some of those suitors have since looked elsewhere, there remains strong interest from from Lyons and Werder Bremen but neither the French or German club would be able to pay anything like the salaries Anelka would command in the Premiership.

The steadily increasing wages paid by even clubs outside of the top four in the Premiership have been powered by the new, three-year, £2.1bn television deal which starts this season. According to The Independent, Eggert Magnusson was prepared to offer Andy Johnson £90,000 a week when they failed with an inquiry for the Everton player last month, and Scott Parker is understood to have signed £72,000-a-week contract at West Ham. The east London club have also matched Freddie Ljungberg's salary of around £60,000 a week at Arsenal when he signed for them this week and were prepared to offer a similar amount to Darren Bent - roughly twice what he eventually settled for when he joined Tottenham. Anelka would certainly command higher wages than all of those, claims Wallace, but West Ham believe he fits the bill if they are to mount a credible challenge to qualify for European football. The Mail quote a club insider as saying: "When was the last time West Ham could offer big salaries and lure players from Liverpool and Arsenal — as well as someone with Anelka's pedigree? The answer is never."

Elsewhere, Alan Curbishley has refused to rule the club out of a move for Newcastle midfielder Kieron Dyer. An article in the Express states Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce admitted today that the 28-year-old could be ending his eight-year stay on Tyneside due to "family problems" - and West Ham have been heavily linked with the England man. Speaking after yesterday's 3-2 friendly defeat at Coca-Cola League Two side MK Dons, Curbishley said: "I'm looking in all areas, and it's not very often that a club says that a player is available. You normally phone up and get told that people are not available, so it's very difficult. But anything can still happen. The situation is that Kieron wants to leave the club, as I understand it, but I don't know anything else. We get linked with a lot of players at the minute, and he's one of them. We are actively looking to strengthen the squad and we have to replace those who have left. I have one eye on everything until that window closes - so we'll have to see."

The Endgame

West Ham United were last night facing a multimillion-pound lawsuit in the battle over the future of Carlos Tévez after the player’s agents issued a writ against the club. Legal proceedings began after Fifa refused to rule on the player’s potential transfer to Manchester United, referring the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. The Premier League had hoped that Fifa would mediate to resolve the situation, but football’s world governing body backed away from making a ruling that it feared could be challenged in a court of law. "It is not a matter of refusing to arbitrate but a recommendation in the interest of all parties involved in the complicated affair," a Fifa spokesman simpered. Instead, lawyers for Media Sports Investments and Just Sports Inc - the companies who held the economic rights relating to Tevez when he moved to Upton Park last August - have lodged a breach-of-contract claim with the courts.

So the Carlos Tevez chess match marches resolutely towards the endgame now that one side has deviated from the well-thumbed book that had been channelling the dispute along more conventional lines. The Guardian claim West Ham, who say they are "happy" to go to CAS, are puzzled as to why Tevez's camp would head for protracted route of the civil courts. Mathieu Reeb, secretary general of CAS, believes the case could have been heard before August 15, with a verdict from the arbitration panel likely to be returned before the closure of the transfer window; a High Court case could take months to be heard. Yet sources close to Joorabchian said the businessman believed an "open and fair" process in the High Court would be the swiftest way of deciding whether the likely £30million transfer fee from United should go to him or the Hammers. Whatever the time scale, The Sun think this latest development in 'soccer’s longest-running row' is a major setback to United’s hopes of signing Tevez. They insist their best hope of landing the Argentine striker before the transfer window closes on August 31 is to now agree a transfer fee with West Ham. Then it would be down to the High Court to rule how much compensation the Hammers would have to pay Joorabchian’s company MSI. An Old Trafford spokesman last night said: "We are hopeful that there will be an early resolution. We are happy with our case and confident he will be our player at the end of the transfer window." The Guardian state Joorabchian is willing to take the risk of a less swift process if he can guarantee an open and public hearing, such as is the case in the High Court. CAS - where decisions are binding and which may be appealed only on procedural grounds - would announce only its verdict, without providing details of its reasons.

The Mail insist that the Iranian is unwilling for the evidence to be heard behind closed doors as he is keen to prove he has nothing to hide. By playing the 'Joorabchian Variation', Tevez's representatives are adopting a high risk strategy with the battle lines now clearly drawn. "The companies seek the court's intervention to compel West Ham to release the registration of Carlos Tevez in accordance with contracts entered into between the parties," said Graham Shear, a solicitor for MSI-JSI. They are ready, suggest the Guardian, to highlight Tevez's eviction from his home - a flat in Canary Wharf that had been organised for him by West Ham - while he was away on Copa América duty with Argentina this summer. They will claim this is proof that the Hammers have not been consistent in asserting their rights over the player. Under pressure from the Premier League to stick by their decision to pull out of the agreements with MSI-JSI, West Ham will rely on Tevez's three-year playing contract and the registration document they hold as evidence that he is their own asset. The Hammers would also draw in their defence on the belief expressed by two QCs in a Premier League disciplinary hearing in April that the third-party contracts held with MSI-JSI are legally unenforceable.

Last night a source close to MSI threatened that in the course of the hearings, the infamous 'damaging documents' will be exposed that in all probability have not been seen by the Premier League. An incendiary piece in the Express states that throughout the saga, the Hammers and the Premier League have both claimed all the relevant paperwork regarding Tevez has been reviewed. Should this be found not to be the case then West Ham could face a points deduction for the start of the season – or even relegation which would see Sheffield United reinstated. Tevez is no longer challenging his ownership, but is instead contesting West Ham’s claim he is contracted to the club until 2010. The original third-party agreement Joorabchian held with the Hammers contained clauses allowing the striker to move at his or his owner’s will in any transfer window. They believe it should still be possible to exploit the clauses because they did not consent to the termination of the agreement. Under the same clauses, MSI would receive all the transfer cash, barring a £100,000 ‘thank you’ to the Hammers.

Yesterday's development was the realisation of a threat that has been outstanding since April. Joorabchian claims that West Ham unilaterally ripped up the contract that was agreed last summer when Tévez and Javier Mascherano, his Argentina teammate, arrived at Upton Park. Those deals were deemed to be in breach of Premier League rules by a commission that fined West Ham £5.5 million in April. As part of the punishment, the club were forced to extricate themselves from the contract with MSI and JSI, a move that allowed Tévez to play in the final three games of the season, helping them to avoid relegation. Richard Scudamore, the Premier League’s chief executive, said that West Ham would have to abide by the decision the club made in April, which allowed them to play Tévez. "They were given three options,” Scudamore said. “The one they chose has made it difficult for them, but we will see that that choice is upheld. They could have gone a different way." Had West Ham chosen to maintain the contract with Tévez’s agents, the forward would not have been allowed to play for the club again. MSI and JSI argue that they did not agree to the contract being terminated. West Ham claim that they are only one year into a four-year deal with the striker. Last night, the club were consulting their lawyers.

Leyton Orient 1 West Ham United 1

Dean Ashton scored his first goal for West Ham in almost a year as the Hammers claimed a 1-1 draw in yesterday's pre-season friendly against Leyton Orient at The Matchroom Stadium. The England striker hit an unstoppable shot from 30 yards after quarter of an hour, the ball swerving past Glenn Morris in goal. The Orient keeper was subsequently replaced after suffering a head injury following an aerial collision with Callum Davenport, and in a very competitive first half, Adam Boyd fired narrowly wide for the Coca-Cola League One club before scoring a stunning equaliser after 20 minutes. The 25-year-old, a new signing from Luton, sent a 25-yard volley dipping over England goalkeeper Robert Green to mark his debut for the east London club in style.

In the second half Kyel Reid sent a fierce shot over the bar for the visitors, before Ashton failed to claim his second of the game when he contrived to miss a glaring opportunity when he headed over from four yards following Matthew Etherington's cut-back. Etherington then provided a cross for Lee Bowyer, whose header was kept out by substitute goalkeeper Stuart Nelson - before Ashton's left-footed shot went just wide of the goal in the final minute.

Alan Curbishley had made the decision earlier in the week to split his first team squad between this week's two friendly matches, this testimonial match for O's manager Martin Ling and against MK Dons tonight. The plan is to ensure that the majority of senior players get through their first 90 minutes of the pre-season build-up, with just three more friendly matches to play before the new Premier League campaign kicks off against Manchester City on August 11. As a result, the travelling support got a lengthy look at several of the players hopeful of making an impression this coming season. Anton Ferdinand joined Davenport in central defence and was an assured performer all night as his partner suffered several lapses. Indeed, Davenport and was fortunate not to concede a penalty for a clear shirt-pull when he got turned on the edge of the penalty area. John Pantsil gave another energetic performance and linked up well with Reid down the right-hand side, as he did in the opening friendly against Dagenham & Redbridge. On the opposite flank, George McCartney put in a very solid display and supported Matthew Etherington effectively. Hayden Mullins shared central midfield duties with Bowyer and both players put in neat, if uninspired, performances. Up front a weary looking Ashton showed some good touches but an overall lack of sharpness, while Carlton Cole was largely anonymous save for a blistering 12-yard shot which went just over the bar in the early stages.

Etherington was easily West Ham's best performer on the night and he admits that the hard work Hammers have put in during the first three weeks of the pre-season build-up has benefited his overall sharpness. "I felt good against Orient," he said. "The legs were a bit heavy towards the end, but it was very tough in Austria last week and I think the lads were feeling that a bit. We worked very hard out there in hot, humid conditions, but I think the lads will benefit from it in time. I felt sharper at the start tonight and hopefully I'll be up to full speed in a couple of weeks. I think the worst of the hard work is behind us now, we're on to the ball-work and short, sharp stuff, so I'm sure the performances will start to improve as we get used to that. I'm raring to go now, ready to fight for my place and looking forward to the new season."

Alan Curbishley seemed content with the general display but clearly had other things on his mind. Speaking after the game the West Ham manager insisted on discussing Craig Bellamy and how he is convinced the player will do his talking on the pitch this season. "It's about time, for all sorts of reasons, that Craig Bellamy let his football do the talking because he's an excellent talent. We've already seen that in the two weeks he has been at the club. He's a good player and I'm sure the West Ham fans are going to see him perform. He has got pace, aggression and is a good finisher."

West Ham United: Green, Pantsil, Ferdinand, Davenport, McCartney, Reid (Stokes), Bowyer, Mullins, Etherington, Cole and Ashton.

The Writ Is Served

Kia Joorabchian tonight confirmed that he has instigated court proceedings against West Ham United over the Carlos Tevez transfer affair. The player's representative has decided to take his fight to the High Court despite Fifa's recommendation that the dispute be settled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). It is believed a writ was served this afternoon on the club's solicitors by lawyers acting on behalf of Joorabchian's companies MSI and Just Sports Inc. Solicitor Graham Shear of lawyers Teacher Stern Selby said in a statement: "I can confirm the companies (MSI and Just Sports Inc) have today begun High Court proceedings against West Ham. This afternoon a High Court writ was served on the football club's solicitors. The companies seek the court's intervention to compel West Ham to release the registration of Carlos Tevez in accordance with contracts entered into between the parties. We are asking the court to intervene so that Carlos Tevez can be registered to play with Manchester United as soon as possible." Shear added: "We will be making no further statement at this time."

With Joorabchian deciding to pursue this course of action there would be no need for CAS to adjudicate, even though the Hammers say they are happy to abide by Fifa's recommendation as are the Football Association and the Premier League. Manchester United are not involved in the process. The Iranian businessman is now forcing the issue in the belief that by bringing the matter to the High Court a clearer picture will emerge surrounding the furore, and that it will ultimately lead to a firmer and speedier conclusion than might be achieved through CAS.

An official club statement was posted on the site this evening. It states: "West Ham United is led to believe that MSI and Just Sports Inc. have issued a writ against the Club this evening, although we are yet to receive this officially. We will liaise with our lawyers and a further statement will be made when appropriate.

Passing The Buck

Fifa have recommended that the Carlos Tevez dispute should go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The world football's governing body came to their decision following a high level meeting with FA and Premier League officials in Zurich yesterday, and believe their decision is in the best interests of all concerned. Fifa spokesman Andreas Herren said: "The recommendation from Fifa to the FA and the Premier League is to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Under the circumstances it was felt it would be in the best interest of all parties to take this course. It looks like being the fastest way of resolving this matter. It is not a refusal by Fifa to get involved, quite the contrary. It is a recommendation by Fifa to opt for this way."

The legal team considered the case overnight before recommending CAS rule on the matter and Fifa's senior legal counsel has already been in touch with the Football Association and the Premier League to advise them of their decision. The recommendation to go to CAS applies to West Ham and Carlos Tevez but not Manchester United, who are not regarded as directly involved in the dispute. The Premier League welcomed the decision. A spokesman said: "The Premier League and FA are grateful to Fifa for considering this issue. We are supportive of the recommendation that if all parties are in agreement the matter should be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport."

West Ham were eager for Fifa to get involved in what has become a stalemate in recent weeks, with the club refusing to sanction Tevez's proposed move to Manchester United. Joorabchian claims he owns the player's economic rights and is therefore entitled to his transfer fee. The Premier League, however, says the Hammers own the player and therefore must receive any such fee. Manchester United chief executive David Gill had said last week that he was confident Fifa would reach a decision on the issue. "What you find in these situations, though, is that Fifa and the necessary bodies try to make sure that the player can play, whether it's for Manchester United or for West Ham."

The Telegraph believe this latest turn of events represents a passing of the buck by Fifa, who have done little to address the ongoing wrangle over the player. Despite an official statement that insisted the decision was deemed to be the best approach, in the interest of all parties and the fastest way to solve this impasse, CAS is yet to even comment on whether it will deign to hear the case. That decision, when it comes, could become an irrelevance as any proposed arbitration hearing would require the agreement of both parties. While West Ham have already indicated they are happy for CAS to rule on the issue, BBC Sport is claiming that Kia Joorabchian is now considering taking the matter straight to the High Court. They suggest his motivation behind this is a desire to push through a deal before the transfer window closes on 31 August, and has absolutely nothing to do with the fact, he has already recently suffered a damaging loss in a separate high-profile case within the confines of CAS.

Head Between Legs

If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good~ Ezra Pound

Did he jump or was he pushed? Whatever the motivation behind Freddie Ljungberg's move across the capital- and there are many theories- the one thing that all parties seem to agree on is that the timing was right. The midfielder has signed on a three-year deal (with an option for an extra year) for an undisclosed fee - although it is thought it could rise to £3million - and anticipates a European challenge from his new club this season, but admitted it wouldn't be easy. "We need experience as the Premiership is the most difficult league in Europe. We need a good calm start," he said, referring to the controversial transfers of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez that disrupted the Upton Park club last season. Alan Curbishley said that he believes Ljungberg can help transform the club this season and that his experience will be crucial in helping them challenge for a top-10 finish. "Whenever he got the ball at Arsenal, he used to scare the life out of me. There's a hunger there. He wants to come and push West Ham on and be partly responsible for that," Curbishley said. "He understands the passion of the club and the passion of the fans. We have Lucas Neill [Australia] and Craig Bellamy [Wales], who are both captains of their national team, and now Freddie. They are all leaders and bring experience to the team."

Marc Isaacs, writing in The Telegraph, believes it was a combination of the uncertainty surrounding Wenger's long-term future at Arsenal and Henry's sudden departure to Barcelona that ultimately left the player to question his former club's ambition. "There were a lot of reasons why I wanted to leave Arsenal," admitted Ljungberg. "I spoke to the boss and he wanted me to stay, but when Henry left this summer, it unfortunately felt like the end and time for me to do something different. It made me a bit sad because all the players who had been in the unbeaten side [2003-04] had left the club. I had been there for almost 10 years and it's a big thing for me. I won almost everything there is to win and I look back with great memories." According to The Guardian, there was also a lot of uncertainty left hanging over the club by the departure of the vice-chairman, David Dein, and Ljungberg felt it made it an anxious time for all the players at The Emirates. "Of course it is a big thing in Arsenal and in the last couple of months with David Dein leaving, it's not been easy as a player," he said. "Maybe Arsène Wenger will have to do a lot more work because David Dein has left."

Six transfers from Arsenal to West Ham

1. Nigel Winterburn- June 2000- free transfer
2. Davor Suker- June 2000- free transfer
3. Ian Wright- July 1998- £500,000
4. John Hartson- February 1997- £3.3 million
5. Stewart Robson- January 1987- £650,000
6. John Radford- December1976- £80,000
   

On Lungberg's departure, Arsène Wenger said: "Freddie’s contribution to Arsenal Football Club was absolutely outstanding. His performances over the past nine seasons have been a major part of the Club’s successes during this time, especially in our 2002 ‘double’ year when he scored and created so many goals from midfield. Freddie is a winner and always gave absolutely everything when he played for this Club. He is an intelligent player and always combined this well with his fantastic fighting spirit. We thank Freddie for his contribution and wish him well for the future." While Wenger was uttering all the right words, Gary Jacob in The Times thinks Arsenal had made the Sweden captain available for transfer for nearly two seasons, after it became clear that a series of injuries had taken their toll on his body. The article states that he has lost some of his pace, and the vision of Dennis Bergkamp, who retired, to match his ability to time a run into the penalty area. He has scored only one league goal in the past two seasons, notes Jacob, compared with ten in the season before, and 12 in 2001-02.

Whatever the truth, Ljungberg’s departure - and the expected sale of José Antonio Reyes - means that there are only four players left from the Arsenal squad that went through the season unbeaten in 2003-2004. As Rob Smyth observed in his Guardian column yesterday: "One of life's greatest frustrations for the sports fan is that great teams never really get the time to bask in the glory they have earned. No sooner has a great team been anointed as, erm, great than fate sizes up the swingers of said team and gives them an unfettered shoeing." Arsenal's Invincibles never started a game together after their final league game in the 2003-04 season and, notes Smyth, perhaps the club's greatest era came to something resembling an official end with the sale to West Ham of 'pants model and increasingly pants footballer Freddie Ljungberg', the longest-serving player at the club and the last one to have played for both the 2002 and 2004 title-winning teams. Wenger's Arsenal will be remembered as aesthetes among philistines in many ways; truly a pleasure to watch, but also a side that ultimately struggled to cope with hardship and lacked mental strength - the final proof of which is that they've all done a runner since the ship started sinking. "I stayed because I wanted to stay loyal to Arsenal. But when [Thierry] Henry left this summer it felt like the end for me unfortunately," mused the Sweden international. It's a beginning for West Ham though, counters Smyth, and Ljungberg says he was impressed by 'crackpot conehead' Eggert Magnusson's vision of the future. "Why I want to join is because of [Spock]," said Ljungberg, modelling his lunchbox at a jaunty 47-degree angle. "He wants to help take the club up and take them to the top in England. It's a big challenge for me." In the words of Dan Quayle- this clearly isn't a man who is leaving with his head between his legs.

Freddie Ljungberg is expected to make his debut either in tonight's friendly at Leyton Orient or at MK Dons tomorrow.

Ljungberg Signs

West Ham United have officially announced the signing of Swedish international captain Fredrik Ljungberg. The 30-year-old midfielder agreed a four-year contract with the club today after successfully passing a medical, and was unveiled to the media at Upton Park this afternoon. The player moves across London after nine years at Arsenal, where he made a total of 216 league and cup appearances - including a Champions League Final against Barcelona in May 2006. He was appointed captain of the Swedish national team following last year's World Cup finals and has won 67 senior caps, scoring 13 goals for his country. The exact financial breakdown of the deal has not been revealed but the Mail think the move is for an initial £2million — with a further £1million dependant on performance-related factors. They say it is a £60,000-a-week deal, which replicates the player's contract at Arsenal.

Ljungberg completed his move from north to east London and admitted that it was the ambition of Eggert Magnusson that convinced him to join. "I am very happy and really looking forward to the challenge," he said. "West Ham United is a great club and the Chairman really wants to go for it. I spoke to him at length - he is very easy to talk to, and you can see that he has that fire in his eyes. He wants to take the club to another level, and hopefully I can help him to do that. There are a lot of reasons for making this move and it is hard for me to talk about all of them, but the main thing is that I was convinced by the ambition at West Ham United. The Chairman wants me to help build success here in the future, and I am very excited by that challenge. The aim is to get the club to the top of English football. I haven't had a chance to train with my new team-mates yet, but I am looking forward to that. There are some fantastic players here and the squad is very strong. The Chairman has proved that he isn't scared to move in the transfer market, but West Ham also have a lot of good young players - the Youth Academy here is very famous - and I really can't wait to be a part of things here."


The midfielder had been the Gunners' longest-serving player after costing Arsène Wenger's side £3million from Swedish club Halmstads in 1998. He said he felt it was the right time to leave the club following Thierry Henry's move to Barcelona. "Two years ago, when I signed my last contract we talked a lot about the future and about bringing great players to the club," he said. "Despite building the new stadium we wanted to stay top in England and do well in Europe. For me that didn't really happen. I stayed because I wanted to stay loyal to Arsenal. But when Henry left this summer it felt like the end for me unfortunately. I felt like all the unbeaten players (from Arsenal's 'invincibles' of 2003/04) had left. I wanted to be loyal but I felt like it was the right time. I'm now coming here because I want to build a great team and why I want to join is because of Magnusson. He wants to bring them forward to be top of the country. He's willing to go to the transfer market to buy top players and mix them with youth players. He wants to help take the club up and take them to the top in England. It's a big challenge for me."

Robert Dineen, writing in The Times, said the Swede's comments will only serve to confirm the worst fears among Arsenal fans that their club is in serious decline. The 30-year-old midfielder said Wenger had consistently failed to make the signings necessary to keep his team close to the top of European football. In a press conference so elegiac in tone it could've be directed by Sam Peckinpah, Ljungberg lamented it had been a real wrench to leave Arsenal and that his old boss had tried to convince him to stay. "Other clubs came in for me last summer but I stayed because I wanted to stay loyal to Arsenal," he said. "I've been there for nine years, almost 10 years. It's a big thing for me and I feel it in my heart a little bit. When I spoke to the boss, he wanted me to stay. But at the same time, I feel it had to be something very, very special for me to leave. I want to go forward and, with the people I have around me, I think it's going to be really good."

Hammers boss Alan Curbishley believes Ljungberg was lured after seeing the other moves the club have made in the transfer market this summer. "We spoke to Freddie over the last week and we tried to sell him the club and what we're about," Curbishley said. "He's seen players come in and push us forward. He brings a few things - Champions League experience, captain of Sweden, he's versatile. There's a hunger there. He wants to come and push West Ham on and be partly responsible for that. He's joining another terrific club and that's the way he's got to see it. He understands the passion of the club and the passion of the fans and I'm sure he'll be a big hit here." The Scandinavian has been troubled by ankle, groin, hamstring and knee injuries over the last few years but Curbishley feels he has a player whose winning mentality can transmit to the rest of a squad striving to erase memories of last season's relegation battle. He said: "Freddie needs a challenge and a lift and he is getting that here. I want goals out of Freddie, I want him to make goals as well. But I especially want him to enjoy himself here. This is another adventure for him and when he gets in front of the Upton Park crowd he will know he is really a West Ham player."

Troubleshooting

Fifa are today expected to give the green light for its troubleshooters to take on the Carlos Tevez affair. Officials from football's world governing body will meet a representative of the FA today to discuss the Argentina striker's proposed move to Manchester United as fears continue to grow that any transfer may not go ahead until January. A Fifa spokesman confirmed: "A meeting will take place on Monday. My understanding is that it will be with members of the FA, not the Premier League. It could be that someone from the Premier League comes along as well. My understanding is that a senior lawyer from the FA will come to Zurich to meet our senior legal people."

West Ham and Tevez's representatives remain at loggerheads over the player's Upton Park contract and both sides believe the paperwork should be passed on to Fifa's Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), which has specialised in sorting out such arguments - without the need for court action - since its formation in 2002. But, state the Mail, Fifa must first decide if the Tevez row warrants the DRC's intervention and should not be purely a matter for the English football authorities. They quote sources close to the situation as saying a DRC move is highly likely because the Premier League, who were in close contact with the FA throughout their discussions on the matter, have so far failed to find a solution.

Speculation has mounted over the last few days that any move would have to wait until the first transfer window of 2008 after it also emerged that the DRC is not due to meet until the second week in August, just before the season starts on Aug 11. The Telegraph say that United chief executive David Gill has asked for the dispute to be given special priority by Fifa in the knowledge that the DRC, who investigate around 30 cases each time they convene, allow 60 days to resolve each dispute. It has already been made clear that they would not hesitate to postpone any decision on Tevez until September, outside the transfer window, if they were not satisfied. According to the paper, one high-ranking DRC officer has even refused to offer any guarantee that the Tevez case would actually be heard in August. "Even if it is, there are several precedents for cases being postponed and there is absolutely no certainty it would be completed at the August meeting," he said. "Our next meeting would then not be until mid-September. There is huge pressure to resolve this because it involves Manchester United, but it could well be that the arbitrators need more time."

West Ham have continually thwarted United's attempts to browbeat the Tevez transfer through normal channels and behind the scenes remain convinced that they hold the player's registration and a contract that legally binds him for another three years. However, the player's representative, Kia Joorabchian, maintains that his company, Media Sports Investments, still own all economic rights and that a deal has already been struck with United. "We have to determine what is the role of this company and whether there has been a breach of contract," said the DRC member. "Only then can we decide on any level of compensation. No one can say for certain when it will be judged." However, another DRC member, Mick McGuire, the English board member of FIFpro, the international body for professional players, believes Fifa could still fast track the Tevez case. "Regulations don't give total comfort that it could be heard by the end of the transfer window," he said. "But when English football sneezes, everyone catches a cold, so because of the high-profile nature of our country it could work in their favour."

As if to heap more pressure on the authorities to find a quick resolution, Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that the club have no Plan B if they fail to cut through the red tape. Ferguson's efforts to lure Carlos Tevez to Manchester United have ground to a halt amid a deluge of legal arguments over who owns the player's registration. Despite the intransigence of the Premier League's position that West Ham own the player, after they tore up the third-party agreement with Tevez's adviser Kia Joorabchian, The Independent insist United remain totally convinced that Fifa will eventually rule in their favour, an outcome which would cause the Premier League huge embarrassment. Ferguson said: "I am confident Carlos Tevez will sign and I am happy to wait until clearance comes along. If it became obvious that the situation wasn't going to turn our way we would have to reconsider our plans. But I have nothing as a fallback position at this moment in time."

SS Lazio 2 West Ham United 0

West Ham United ended their pre-season tour to Austria with an unfortunate 2-0 friendly defeat to Lazio. The Italians, slightly ahead of the Hammers in their pre-season preparations due to an impending Champions League qualifier, struck once in each half to earn victory. The second goal followed a poor clearance from Robert Green. Craig Bellamy and Carlton Cole came closest for the Irons. The Welshman missed a 68th minute penalty and Cole twice forced superb saves from Lazio keeper Marco Ballotta.

West Ham: Green; Spector (Collins 45), Davenport (Upson 45), Ferdinand (Dailly 60), McCartney (Gabbidon 45); Bowyer (Collison 65), Mullins (Boa Morte 45), Parker, Etherington (Reid 70); Ashton (Cole 45), Bellamy.

Mudslinging

West Ham today hit back at Kia Joorabchian, rejecting his assertion they had made misleading statements about Carlos Tevez and reiterating their claim that they owned the player outright. The club was reacting to Joorabchian's threat to bring "the true circumstances" of Tevez's position to the attention of "a higher authority" - presumably Fifa, who were called in yesterday by Manchester United to arbitrate the transfer. Tevez's advisers also stated that the Hammers made "promises and assurances" about the 23-year-old Argentine which they have not acted on. West Ham remain unbowed, insisting that every document regarding them and Tevez has already been scrutinised by the Premier League. Far from cowering at the prospect of Fifa intervention, Eggert Magnusson now appears to be actively encouraging it.

The statement that was posted on the club's official website reads:

West Ham United totally rejects the latest outburst and threats issued in the name of Kia Joorabchian in relation to the situation regarding Carlos Tevez. We will not be drawn into this form of public mudslinging but these latest statements cannot go unanswered. Mr Joorabchian entered into agreements with the previous regime at West Ham United at a time in which he was attempting to take over the Club. Those arrangements, since terminated by West Ham United, led the Club into serious disciplinary difficulties for which the Club has paid a heavy price.

It is absolutely clear that the only contract relating to Carlos Tevez recognised by West Ham United and the Premier League is the player's four-year contract which runs until June 2010. All other arrangements were terminated by West Ham on 27th April 2007 and no legal challenge to that termination has occurred. West Ham United can also confirm that all documentation regarding the Club and Carlos Tevez has already been submitted to the Premier League and fully scrutinised by them. We have ensured full disclosure.

The Club has in recent weeks made every effort to keep Carlos Tevez at West Ham United and indeed offered significantly improved terms and conditions to the player, which were not accepted. However, a transfer of a properly registered player cannot occur without agreement between two clubs and the Premier League. Without such an agreement we believe that it is in the interest of all parties to resolve this issue as quickly as possible through the procedures laid down by Fifa.

Public threats and accusations are irrelevant, let Fifa decide and West Ham United will accept that judgement whatever the outcome. The time has come to settle this matter in a way which will allow everyone concerned to move on.

Meanwhile, the British government and the Football Association will unite to press Fifa to investigate the question of third party ownership of players. A report on the BBC states that Carlos Tevez's proposed transfer from West Ham to Manchester United has brought the matter under the spotlight and raised high-level concerns about the 'integrity of the game'. A Whitehall source said: "We don't want third-party ownership in British football, we want it dealt with," while the Department of Media, Culture and Science has called for a probe at "the highest international level."

Vexed Lies And Barrel Scrape

Manchester United face significant disruption to their preparations for the start of the season on August 11 after Fifa yesterday refused to give any indication of how quickly it could resolve the dispute over Carlos Tevez. The Guardian state that the Disputes Resolution Chamber (DRC) is set to be asked to pass judgement on the Argentinian's contractual situation with West Ham in a case which is likely to be brought directly by player, but the possible timeframe for any resolution raises serious doubt over whether Tevez will be available for the start of the season or, indeed, whether the deal can be completed before August 31, the end of the summer transfer window. According to The Telegraph, the chamber are not scheduled to meet again until August 9 - two days before the start of the season. The Premiership Champions, it says, have already written off the prospects of Tevez completing his controversial move to Old Trafford in time for next month's Community Shield meeting against Chelsea.

Manchester United were yesterday still optimistic about a swift resolution with chief executive David Gill saying he hoped the case can be dealt with on an "expedited basis". However a Fifa spokesman effectively switched on the muzak after admitting it was "impossible" to know when it would be resolved. "We can't give any time frame - it will depend on the complexity of the case. At this stage we have still not yet had a formal request. If time is of the essence it might be possible to throw it forward but first of all Fifa must decide if it is competent to act on the case." The chances of the matter still being referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) are high, according to Mick McGuire, deputy chief executive for the Professional Footballers' Association and an English board member of Fifpro, who represent players in disputes that go to the DRC. He said: "It could drag on. But Fifa make the regulations on transfer windows and know the time frames - you would hope they take that into account. You can take it to the next stage, to CAS, and that would be the final appeal stage." Whether a case is suitable for the DRC or a player status committee depends on the dispute, whether it is club-to-club or player-to-club. McGuire added: "It's a matter of which avenue is most appropriate. It could be seen as a dispute between Manchester United and West Ham, or between Tevez and West Ham."

Fifa would not normally get involved in such disputes because it involves a domestic, rather than an international transfer, but it does have the jurisdiction under exceptional circumstances explains Jason Burt in The Independent. The chamber will have to decide whether the four-year playing contract Tevez has with West Ham is valid, as the club claim, or whether he signed a one-year deal, with options, as the Argentine and his advisers claim. If it rules in Tevez's favour, United will be free to negotiate the terms of the transfer with Media Sports Investments, the company who own his economic rights. The Premier League will then have to decide whether it takes further action against West Ham- the punishment of a 6 point deduction has been mentioned in certain quarters. If it rules in the club's favour, United will be obliged to strike a deal with West Ham, and not MSI, to buy out the remainder of Tevez's contract. At that point, the businessman Kia Joorabchian, who claims to own the "economic rights" to the striker, will have to decide whether or not he goes to court to try to seek damages. Either way, says Burt, it should mean that the Tevez transfer eventually takes place and help resolve where the loan fees and future transfer payments go. The Premier League believe it is almost inevitable that Fifa will have to rule and hope that the saga serves as a warning to clubs and businessmen not to enter into so-called "third party arrangements".

While Manchester United impatiently await the decision, Burt insists the club are required to act with probity as they would be in danger of breaching the Premier League rules over the tapping-up of players if they continued pushing for the transfer without reaching agreement with West Ham. It is surprising then that Carlos Tevez looked every bit a Manchester United player yesterday. An article in the Mail insists the Argentina striker spoke with some of his 'new' team-mates, including skipper Gary Neville, striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and keeper Ben Foster after, it is claimed, taking part in his medical. Tevez then took a tour of the impressive facilities at United's Carrington training ground. While Gill expressed the hope that Tevez may be free to train with United before the Barclays Premier League season begins in early August, The times believe that there are growing concerns that the issue could take substantially longer because of the complications surrounding the relationship between the Argentina forward, his representatives and West Ham.

Those relations became even more fractious last night when Kia Joorabchian accused West Ham of making inconsistent statements about the player's future. He accused the London club of failing to act upon "repeated promises and assurances" with regard to the player's possible transfer and confirmed his intention to bring "the true circumstances" to the attention of both Fifa and the Football Association. That, in itself, should be entertaining. Fifa could hardly have expected to see Joorabchian's handiwork again so soon, when just two weeks ago MSI lost a separate battle in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. That case looked at the company's involvement in the transfer of a Brazilian striker named Nilmar from Lyon to Corinthians for 10 million euros. Lyon alleged that Corinthians and MSI had acted illegally in trying to evade paying the full transfer fee. First FIFA and then CAS backed Lyon. Corinthians have been left broke after falling out with MSI and now owe the French champions eight million euros. Furthermore, four of their directors are due in court on allegations of money-laundering and also of match-fixing as part of the same investigation that has fingered MSI.

Joorabchian released the following statement through lawyers representing the Iranian businessman and his company MSI read:

Press statements both today [Wednesday] and over the last few weeks are wholly inconsistent with the real circumstances and the situation presented to us by West Ham concerning Carlos Tevez. We as a company have patiently kept away from the issues including West Ham in order to give the club the opportunity to resolve the matter in a legal and agreeable way acceptable to all parties. West Ham have consistently provided private assurances while at the same time making contrary statements to the public at large. We can no longer allow these inconsistencies to continue unaddressed.

We wish to make clear that at all times it has been our intention to find an amicable solution and Carlos Tevez has, at no time, acted improperly in relation to his move to Manchester United Football Club as he was given permission via his representatives to talk to other clubs to reach an amicable agreement. Over the last six months West Ham have made repeated promises and assurances which they have not acted upon or performed. It is now time for these inconsistencies to be brought to an end. We see no alternative but to bring the true circumstances to the attention of a higher authority to aid a rapid conclusion to this issue."

During his time at West Ham Carlos Tevez performed at a high standard. There was a period at the end of last year when Carlos had the opportunity to leave the club and yet he decided to stay to successfully help West Ham survive in the Premier League.

Naturally, Kia Joorabchian's mouthpiece carried this latest piece of propaganda with fervent glee. Sportsmail's Lee Clayton also 'understands' there is 'explosive documentation' held by Joorabchian that, until yesterday, was likely to remain out of the public domain. That will be the same 'explosive documentation' that was supposed to surface at the original disciplinary hearing, and then again at the arbitration panel. The same 'explosive documentation' that Joorabchian publicly denied even existed just a few weeks ago.

Finally, the Express claim Kia Joorabchian now wants to bypass Fifa and take West Ham and the Premier League straight to the High Court to prove Carlos Tevez is free to complete his £35million move to Manchester United. Although it was agreed yesterday that the case would be forwarded to the Disputes Resolution Chamber, Tevez's representatives are now worried about the time scale involved and want the matter cleared up in plenty of time for their client to start the season at Old Trafford – making High Court action the most favourable move.

A Higher Authority

Fifa has today been asked to arbitrate in the ongoing dispute over Carlos Tevez's future after talks between United lawyer Maurice Watkins and West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson at the Premier League's offices in London ended in stalemate yesterday. West Ham resolutely refused to consent to a planned medical for Tevez this morning, instead confirming they have written to the Premier League requesting the matter now be referred to Fifa. "It now makes sense for this to be dealt with by Fifa," said a West Ham spokesman. "All parties agree this is the best way forward and of course we will be involved in helping this be resolved as quickly as possible."

The United chief executive David Gill, who remains confident that Tevez will eventually become a United player, confirmed that West Ham and the player are to take the problem to Fifa's dispute resolution chamber, and suggested the issue should be rushed through to ensure a speedy resolution. "Hopefully the case will be heard on an expedited basis but we are not sure whether we will have him signed in time for the new season," said Gill. "It may take up to two weeks for the body to be formed, all the paperwork has to be put together and then the case has to be heard. Even given that timetable we hope by the time the new season kicks off, Carlos will be training at Carrington." The Premier League champions are increasingly confident that the deal will be judged legally sound because of the similarities with the transfer which took Javier Mascherano from West Ham to Liverpool last term. According to an article in the Mail, United have monitored the legal aspects of that move in fine detail and are sure that a transfer cannot be blocked by either West Ham or the Premier League. Speaking at a press conference in Seoul, Gill told reporters: "We're very confident, as is the player, that the situation will be resolved in favour of Tevez. He will then be free to achieve his, and our, wish to join United. Based on what we've seen, and the discussions we've had over the last few weeks, we're very confident this will be resolved and that he will be a major of Sir Alex's squad this season."

West Ham concede they are unlikely to convince Tevez to stay, even though they offered him improved terms — ironically making the offer via Joorabchian. Chairman Eggert Magnusson feels the club are in a strong position because they have the full backing of the Premier League. Insiders are also confident they have the upper hand because, state the Mail, Joorabchian has not followed through with his threat of legal action after West Ham tore up their third-party agreement on 27 April. Whatever the merits of the legal arguments, Fifa have reiterated they would only be able to intervene if the proposed deal is considered an international transfer. The sticking point is whether the transfer is between two Premier League clubs or whether the involvement of Tevez's supposed owner Kia Joorabchian, the Iranian-born businessman, makes it an international move. "If a complaint is submitted to Fifa our legal department will take a look at it and see whether we are the competent authority to deal with the matter," said spokesman Andreas Herren.

Meanwhile Carlos Tevez, who flew in from Venezuela yesterday, was said to be holed up in a Manchester hotel awaiting further instruction. The Mail predict that rather than being kept in limbo Tevez, who needs rest after playing in the Copa America, is now expected to go on a short holiday. Presumably, that will not be anywhere near Austria where the rest of the West Ham squad are currently based.

Sigma Olomouc 1 West Ham United 0

West Ham United stepped up their pre-season preparations with a rigorous work-out against Sigma Olomouc in Austria last night. The Hammers suffered a 1-0 defeat against the Czech outfit, with a 36th minute close range strike by Ladislav Onofrej enough to earn a win for Sigma in Bad Radkersburg. To add to Alan Curbishley's woes, new French recruit Julien Faubert was also carried off after 35 minutes with a brace around his ankle. The 23-year-old winger will undergo a scan tomorrow to determine the extent of the damage but initial prognosis suggests it is an achilles injury. Most media outlets are reporting that the player will now be struggling to make the start of the season and the worst case scenario could see the Frenchman sidelined for three to four months.

On a more positive note, Dean Ashton continued on the comeback trail with a decent 60-minute run-out, while Craig Bellamy made his Hammers debut and came close to grabbing a late equaliser with a 20-yard strike that crashed back off the crossbar. Matthew Upson also came through another 45 minutes work unscathed and both Bobby Zamora and Christian Dailly got their first taste of action this summer.

Hammers: Wright (Walker 45), Spector (Ferdinand 60), Collins (Davenport 45), Upson (Gabbidon 45), McCartney (Dailly 45); Faubert (Collison 35), Parker (Noble 45), Bowyer (Mullins 45), Reid (Boa Morte 45); Ashton (Bellamy 60), Cole (Zamora 60).

The Hammers will now continue pre-season training work at their purpose-built Austrian camp near Graz, where new Head of Sports Science Nick Davies is running intensive double training sessions to build fitness levels. "The main thing is that we've got them 24 hours a day!" explains Assistant Manger Mervyn Day. "If we want to give them a nice early wake-up call for a morning run, then they'll have to be up and ready! Seriously, it will be hard work for the boys, but we are looking forward to it. It's a change of environment, a chance to get away from the training ground, and we've got a couple of decent matches lined up. It will also give the new players a chance to bed in, get to know the other lads a bit better, while we also have a few new guys on the coaching and backroom staff, so it will benefit them too." West Ham travel to Lebring on Saturday where they will face Serie A outfit S.S. Lazio.

Stop The War

Manchester United's hopes of Carlos Tevez undergoing a medical tomorrow are in question after they failed to secure permission for the tests from West Ham. The Argentina striker flew in to Manchester tonight at the behest of United, who had been preparing to put the 23-year-old through a series of fitness and medical checks. However, one club is not allowed to give a player a medical unless his current club agree, and although United have made West Ham aware of their wishes, the London side will not give formal permission for a medical until they have been made - and accepted - an offer.

Lee Clayton, writing in the Mail, says although West Ham are publicly refusing to endorse the check-up, United still intend to go ahead with their plan to fitness test the player. It is a calculated show of strength by the Premiership champions designed to test the resolve of all parties involved. A United insider said: "We expect Carlos Tevez to become a United player. We've flown him in for a medical as a show of force. The player is very excited at the prospect of signing for us. It is only a matter of time. It's up to West Ham now. Carlos will have his medical and then they must decide their course of action. Either they can take action against United or they can allow a medical to take place while all the parties continue to seek a resolution." Clayton states West Ham could ask the Premier League to charge United with "tapping up" but, he suggests, that is unlikely as it will open 'a can of worms'. According to the Mail, West Ham do hold the registration of the player but the club's claims that he has a contract with them are thought to be incorrect.

West Ham remain adamant they hold Tevez's registration, that he is contracted to them for another three years and that they have unilaterally terminated all third-party agreements with Tevez's representative Kia Joorabchian. Joorabchian maintains his company Media Sports Investments (MSI) own the economic rights to the player, who has already agreed personal terms with Manchester United. United, for their part, have steadfastly refused to acknowledge West Ham's rights in their negotiations, despite repeated warnings from the Premier League, and now nobody seems able to cut the most intractable of Gordian knots. According to The Times, even if Tévez moves a step closer to joining Manchester United by undergoing the medical examination tomorrow, a bureaucratical and diplomatic minefield would still need to be overcome before the complicated transfer could be completed. As it stands now, a swift resolution appears even further away.

Negotiations between Manchester United and West Ham have been ongoing throughout the day. A delegation led by West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson met a team led by United lawyer Maurice Watkins at the Premier League’s offices in London. The talks ended in deadlock however with no agreement reached over the 23-year-old Argentina striker. Five Live's Gordon Farquhar said: "Despite a day of talks led by chairman Eggert Magnusson for the Hammers and Maurice Watkins for United, there is no deal and West Ham clearly aren't going to be railroaded into this. They have refused a written transfer request, are asserting their rights over the player and are going to insist on this being a transfer between two clubs and not with a third party, the MSI group, whatever their claims over economic rights to the player may be." A West Ham spokesman confirmed talks had taken place. "Meetings have taken place between the two clubs but no agreement has been reached in relation to Carlos Tevez," he said. "One club cannot give a player a medical unless his current club agree and West Ham will not give formal permission for a medical until they have been made an offer and accepted it."

Meanwhile, a desperate Carlos Tevez has reportedly pleaded with West Ham to stop the war with Manchester United and let him sign at Old Trafford. The 23-year-old Argentinian striker took naked to the streets this afternoon, his message daubed in red paint, in attempt to generate some much needed media coverage for his plight. He now intends to fly to London for an urgent meeting with the Hammers, who have been determined to block his latest controversial transfer. Tevez said: "I want a solution very quickly on this subject. My desire is to play for Manchester United - but I also want a positive exit from West Ham, because the club was good to me in the year when I played in England. I find the controversy about my transfer very strange but I hope it will be resolved in the next few days."

One Out, One In?

Marlon Harewood has joined Aston Villa from West Ham for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £3.5million. The striker has signed a three-year contract and follows his former Upton Park team-mate Nigel Reo-Coker to Villa. The club offically confirmed the striker's departure this afternoon. Harewood joined the Hammers from Nottingham Forest in November 2003 for a fee of £500,000 and made an instant impression with two goals on his debut against Wigan. He scored 14 times in his first campaign at Upton Park, and was top scorer the following year with 23 goals, helping the club win promotion to the Premiership via the play-offs. He scored again 14 goals in the top flight in the 2005/06 season, including a hat-trick against Aston Villa, but suffered a miserable season last year. After the arrival of Alan Curbishley as West Ham manager, Harewood struggled to gain a first-team place and requested a move after his team's dramatic relegation escape, much of which he had watched from the sidelines. He went on to make a total of 180 league and cup appearances for the Club, scoring 56 goals.

The 27-year-old has been courted by several other clubs this summer and had originally been expected to sign for Wigan. "I'm delighted that he's accepted the invitation to come and join us," said the Villa manager Martin O'Neill. "I know there were other teams wanting to take him, but he's prepared to come here and challenge to try and work his way into the first team. He's a strong lad, very athletic and if he can recapture the form he showed in the two seasons before last, he will definitely be a big asset." O'Neill has warned the striker he will not be an automatic selection at Villa. "He's coming to join a squad. We've let some players go during the summer and we're now rebuilding again," he said. "Marlon's prepared to come in here and battle for his place and that's what we want at this football club. He's a confident lad."

Harewood agreed with O'Neill's assessment that he must strive to recapture the form of two seasons ago. "I'm delighted to join Villa and I think I've come at a really exciting time for the club," he told the club's website. "The manager is aiming high next season and it's great to be part of his plans. I want to recapture the form I showed a couple of seasons ago, when West Ham got into the cup final and we did so well in the league. There's a lot of quality here at Villa. I watched the lads train this morning and I'd forgotten just how much quality there was already here. My mate Nigel Reo-Coker has already signed and I know all about his qualities, so I'm just really pleased to be on board. Villa finished last season strongly and I know the aim is to get into Europe this time around. Hopefully I can play my part in that."

On the day that one striker departs, West Ham have again been linked with a move for Jermain Defoe. A story in the Mail says the club have already failed with a £11million offer for our former player but will now make a renewed bid armed with the extra funds from Harewood's sale. The sticking point, states the article, is that Defoe is reluctant to return to Upton Park where he has been the target of vociferous abuse from the boo boys since switching to Spurs. The England international has also interested Manchester City, Aston Villa and Portsmouth but has so far pledged to fight for his place at White Hart Lane. Defoe has two years left on his contract and may wait until the turn of the year to see how Martin Jol's rotation system pans out before deciding whether to begin talks about a new deal or seek regular first-team football elsewhere.

Unrivalled Stupidity

Who needs Carlos Tevez when you have Dean Ashton? That is the question posed by Robert Green, who believes that Ashton’s return from injury after 11 months out with a broken ankle will more than compensate for the imminent departure of Tévez, who is expected to complete his complicated transfer to Manchester United this week. Speaking in The Times, Green said: "Carlos is a great player and if he’s here then great; if he’s not, then there are other great players, like Deano, who is a huge asset to the club. Hopefully, he can get through preseason, battle through any aches and pains, stay fit and play the whole season. I’ve not played in the same West Ham team with him, but when we were at Norwich he was the focal point of the attack, the player others would bounce off, and he would bring a lot of attributes to the side. Carlos is very different. He’s a spark, he’s a livewire and he gives you something else. The two players play in the same position but very differently and just as effectively."

Meanwhile, Marlon Harewood is set to continue the exodus from West Ham after holding talks with Wigan over the weekend and moving closer to a £4 million move to the JJB Stadium. The Hammers have already sold Nigel Reo-Coker, Yossi Benayoun, Tyrone Mears and Paul Konchesky for nearly £18million, while Teddy Sheringham and Roy Carroll have also left Upton Park on free transfers. John Ley, writing in The Telegraph, says Harewood is now expected to leave even though clear tensions still exist between the two clubs. The Mail have a different take on things and insist Martin O'Neill is about to hijack any proposed transfer. Although the striker held talks with Latics boss Chris Hutchings over the weekend, the article claims Harewood has agreed to join Aston Villa in a deal worth £4.5million. Harewood's agent Mick McGuire is quoted as saying tonight: "Marlon has been in talks with Villa and everything should be concluded soon. Villa have come in at the 11th hour to take him." If he completes the move then Harewood will join up with former team-mate Nigel Reo-Coker.

In other news, recent French recruit Julien Faubert has been branded "stupid" for moving to West Ham. The powerful winger joined the Hammers from Bordeaux for £6.1million earlier this month but France boss Raymond Domenech is furious with the player, who had just broken into the national side. The outspoken 55-year-old told le-mercato.com that Faubert's decision to move to Upton Park was 'unrivalled stupidity'. "When certain players call me to talk about their transfer I tell them it's okay to play for one of the top four clubs in England, Germany, Italy or Spain," he said. "But this is stupidity. What a pity when he is on the verge of the French team. I have trouble understanding it." The comments are reminiscent of those made by Argentina manager Alfio Basile when he criticized Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano shortly after their moves to East London last season.

Finally, the hushed rumour that Eidur Gudjohnsen could be ready to join the claret & blue revolution is starting to get a little louder. Well placed sources are suggesting a deal might just be getting closer after months of public denials and feigned indifference.

Over-Complicated

"In my opinion the theory here is the logically simplest relativistic field theory that is at all possible. But this does not mean that nature might not obey a more complex theory. More complex theories have frequently been proposed. . . In my view, such more complicated systems and their combinations should be considered only if there exist physical-empirical reasons to do so." So ends The Meaning of Relativity where Einstein gives canonical expression to the principle of Occam's Razor; or as he would later precise it: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." It remains the purest distillation of positivist theory ever wrought... well, up until the moment that Avril Lavigne asked a waiting world why they had to go and make things so complicated. But that's not important. So it is in metaphysics, so it should be in football; and on this point Albert, Avril and David Gill would be in perfect harmony.

The Manchester United chief executive today insisted his club is determined to proceed with the signing of Carlos Tevez despite admitting the deal is "over-complicated". Tevez is preparing to fly into Manchester for a medical which, under normal circumstances, would mark the end game in a £30million move from West Ham. However, with the Premier League insisting that any transfer fee must be paid to West Ham rather than Kia Joorabchian, whose company owns Tevez's economic rights, the saga is likely to remain some way from conclusion. "We are working on it," said Gill today. "In my opinion, it has become over-complicated. Effectively, we are trying to work with four parties; the player, West Ham, the company who own Carlos's economic rights and the Premier League in order to sort it out. The process is ongoing. The player will have a medical at some point this week, then we will take it from there. We still have to sort out the paperwork but we are confident that can be achieved in the course of the next week or so."

United's legal expert Maurice Watkins has remained in England as efforts to resolve the dispute intensify. The issue of economic rights is central to the negotiations and in this matter West Ham remain confident that the law is on their side. An article in today's Guardian reiterates the London club's belief that the clause in Tevez's original contract that ascribed his "economic rights" to his agents, Media Sports Investment and Just Sports Inc, are unenforceable in law. This, insists Matt Scott, explains their tenacity on insisting on a fee for the player, whom Manchester United would like to sign, and their preparedness to fight a court case on the matter. The alleged errors in the third-party contracts were originally uncovered by deputy chief executive Scott Duxbury, and then adopted by the Hammers' counsel, Jim Sturman QC, when he argued to the independent disciplinary panel that elements of those contracts are "clearly invalid as being a restraint of trade". According to Sturman the "predetermined damages" in the third-party agreements - fixed amounts payable upon breach of contract by the club or player - are "penalty clauses" that are also "unenforceable in law". QC Simon Bourne-Arton, who chaired that panel, found that the arguments carried "considerable force" and it was this response that set West Ham down the road of ripping up the "unenforceable" third-party agreements.

The club consider their argument would carry even more weight in defence of the threatened court challenge from MSI-JSI. There is now a private feeling at West Ham, states the article, that recent developments in Brazil, where an arrest warrant has been issued against the offshore companies' representative, Kia Joorabchian, also cloud the issue for Tevez's handlers. The Hammers will not now sanction Tevez's transfer to Old Trafford until formal negotiations are conducted and they receive the transfer fee. Although it was Joorabchian who stated last Thursday that Tevez's transfer would be effected this week, it appears that if that happens his companies will be cut out of the deal. Talks between the clubs are expected to open today, since United have given up hope on an arrangement involving MSI-JSI being endorsed by West Ham and the Premier League.

Dagenham & Redbridge 0 West Ham United 2

West Ham United secured a 2-0 victory over Football League new-boys Dagenham & Redbridge at the Glyn Hopkin Stadium watched by 5657 spectators. In their opening pre-season friendly of the summer it was the sight of Dean Ashton back in action again that really had Hammers fans celebrating. The 23-year-old England striker - sidelined for the past 11 months with a broken ankle - played the full second half as Alan Curbishley's men kicked off their 2007-08 preparations, and came close to marking the occasion with a goal - hitting the bar with a powerful header in the 64th minute. He also endured several robust challenges from the combative Daggers defenders, including one hefty challenge that left him floored for a brief agonising moment. "That tackle probably did me a favour," Ashton admitted afterwards. "I need that sort of thing to get my confidence back. The fact I got the tackle so early in the game did me good. It's part and parcel of the game and I need to get used to it."

The match was a testimonial for Daggers keeper Tony Roberts, who had little to do in a quiet first half as both sides took time to find their feet after just a week or so of pre-season training following the summer break. Craig Bellamy was the only one of the new signings who didn't see any action as he is still a little behind the rest of the squad in terms of fitness. Bobby Zamora and Marlon Harewood were also absent so young Hammers striker Zavon Hines partnered Carlton Cole up front. Brixton-born Hines only joined the club two years ago but made considerable progress last term to earn his chance. He showed some good bursts of speed and fired an early shot into the side-netting, before Dagenham midfielders Southam and Huke both went close for the home side. Apart from those two long-range efforts the Hammers back four, marshalled impressively by the commanding James Collins, were otherwise untroubled.

Ghana defender John Pantsil was a tireless figure when raiding from his fullback position and, in conjuction with the busy Kyel Reid, offered slightly more of a threat down the right side of the pitch than George McCartney and Matthew Etherington managed on the opposite flank. With 10 minutes of the half remaining, Lee Bowyer narrowly failed to connect with a Cole lay-off just six yards out, before winger Reid headed a Hayden Mullins cross on to the top of the bar six minutes later.

The interval brought about wholesale changes for both teams, with Curbishley making nine in total. New signings Scott Parker and Julien Faubert came on for their debuts, as did Richard Wright who had the honour of an on-pitch welcoming handshake from the chairman. In fact, Eggert Magnusson was a conspicuous presence all afternoon and seemed to be enjoying a break from all the off-field controversies surrounding the club at the moment. He happily mixed with the fans and when faced with a question about Carlos Tevez informed the gathered throng that "he doesn't want to play for us any more". Magnusson also found himself mobbed by a large number of Hammers fans as he waited for his vehicle to be extricated from the car park after the game.


Dean Ashton stepped out to a rousing reception from all areas of the ground and Matthew Upson also made a welcome return after his injury-hit 2006-07 campaign. Just moments after the restart the cheers suddenly turned to hushed silence when Ashton was the victim of that ill-timed lunge from defender Jon Boardman, leaving the Hammers striker grounded in pain. Much to everyone's relief, though, Deano was soon back on his feet and showing no signs of ill-effect. Minutes later, he sent a 25-yard free-kick flying just inches wide of the target and then, on 64 minutes, soared to meet Luis Boa Morte's inviting cross, only to see his headed effort rebound off the crossbar.

As the game drew to a close, England under-21 internationals Mark Noble and Anton Ferdinand were handed a taste of the action in place of the ineffective Cole and the enthusiastic Pantsil. Curbishley revealed that he had not intended to play Noble but the youngster, two days back from holiday, was pestering for a chance. Predictably then, it was Noble who eventually broke the deadlock in the 81st minute, curling a superb free-kick past Roberts after a foul on Julian Faubert - impressive on his first appearance in England. The Frenchman seemed instantly attuned to the pace and physicality of the game and was quick and strong on the ball. He made some penetrative forays down the right side and also fluidly switched wings with Boa Morte. It was the Portugal winger's whipped corner from the right that doubled the Hammers advantage. It was a cross that eluded his team-mates but was met by the unfortunate Ross Smith, who somehow managed to divert the ball into the top corner from six yards out.

It was a bright and positive start to preparations for the new campaign played in a pleasingly relaxed atmosphere. The players wore their Umbro training tops for the game (the home kit clashed and the away kit is not officially released ready yet) and all the players seemed in good spirits as they joked around and signed autographs and shirts. Even the referee took the Monty Panesar quips in good heart. Ultimately, the 5,000 plus crowd went away content after two late goals, no injuries and the first sight of Dean Ashton in almost a year. It is now full steam ahead for Austria.

West Ham United (first half): Green; Pantsil, Collins, Gabbidon, McCartney; Reid, Mullins, Bowyer, Etherington; Hines, Cole.

West Ham United (second half): Wright; Pantsil (Ferdinand 82), Davenport, Upson, Spector; Faubert, Parker, Collison, Boa Morte; Cole (Noble 67), Ashton.

Morality Cracks

The saga of Carlos Tevez's protracted move from West Ham to Manchester United shows no signs of being resolved according to an article in The Sunday Telegraph. Contrary to reports that the deal could be resolved this week, Duncan White states that the possibility of an imminent resolution is looking increasingly remote, with Tevez's proposed medical at Old Trafford this week perhaps the only straightforward part of any potential transfer. Although enormous pressure is now being heaped upon West Ham the facts remain that the London club are in possession of the player's registration and the Premier League are satisfied that they terminated their third-party agreements with MSI on April 27. If Manchester United want to buy Tevez, insists White, then they need to pay West Ham a transfer fee. Simple as that.

If MSI are cut out of a deal then they could feasibly take West Ham to court but with doubts raised about how legally enforceable these third-party agreements are. White believes the Hammers can also take heart from last week's ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which looked at MSI's involvement in the transfer of a Brazilian striker named Nilmar from Lyon to Corinthians for 10 million euros. Lyon alleged that Corinthians and MSI had acted illegally in trying to evade paying the full transfer fee. First FIFA and then CAS backed Lyon. Corinthians have been left broke after falling out with MSI and owe the French champions eight million euros. Furthermore, four of their directors are due in court on allegations of money-laundering and also of match-fixing as part of the same investigation that has fingered MSI. The Brazilian investigators claim to have tape-recordings of Corinthians officials planning ways of manipulating results in order to avoid relegation, including influencing officials - a resounding echo of the Italian match-fixing scandal of last year. Tevez is a good player but, enquires The Telegraph, is this really the kind of company Manchester United want to keep?

The answer to that question is almost certainly yes. In the murky world of football transfers morality will always crack before expediency. Yet whether any deal can be done while Kia Joorabchian remains involved is open to debate. The Mail on Sunday believe that Argentina star Tevez will only join Manchester United and become Sir Alex Ferguson's fourth major signing of the summer if he agrees to ditch his agent. United have so far conducted their negotiations with Joorabchian and have agreed terms with the player. But with Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore insisting that only West Ham can receive the transfer fee it seems United lawyer Maurice Watkins and chief executive David Gill will have to finalise the deal with West Ham owner Eggert Magnusson, and that will mean Carlos Tevez effectively agreeing to remove his agent from the negotiations.

"We would have no objection to Tevez agreeing a contract and having a medical at Manchester United so long as it has been agreed by West Ham," said a Premier League source. "If that doesn't happen, Tevez won't be going anywhere." West Ham are willing to deal with United direct and will not hold out for the maximum £20 million fee they might expect, given the controversial circumstances in which they acquired the player for a nominal fee. Nor will they stand in the way of the striker leaving. West Ham spokesman Mike Lee said: "There is a desire now to find a solution. For this to happen in the near future it has to involve a formal agreement between Manchester United and West Ham which is approved by the Premier League."

The situation will infuriate Joorabchian, who claims that he owns economic rights to the player and is threatening to sue West Ham after the club unilaterally terminated its agreement with MSI after being found guilty of breaking Premier League rules in April. Joorabchian and MSI's investors expect to be compensated for giving up economic rights the company claim they own but the Premier League will not allow West Ham to renegotiate their deal with Tevez's representatives, because the club were only allowed to keep playing Tevez in their vital relegation clashes on the basis that they ended their contract with MSI. The club would risk being charged by the Premier League again for third party influence. The Mail on Sunday claim Manchester United could break the impasse by unilaterally deciding to compensate Joorabchian for the work he has done on the deal, although they will not act without Premier League approval.

As the tug of war over Tevez intensifies a word of words has broken out between Alan Curbishley and Sir Alex Ferguson. A story in the Sunday Express claims Curbishley is furious with the Manchester United boss about his assertion that Tevez kept the Hammers in the Premiership single-handedly. "I was a bit disappointed about Alex’s comments about Tevez keeping us up. Because there were 10 other players out there and a lot of them were big performers for us. There was a lot more going on than just Carlos Tevez. Every day has been a Tevez day for the last two months. I have kept my own council and got on with it. But I was disappointed to hear Alex say that. We have got to move off and move on." Curbishley also confirmed that the Argentinian striker will not be travelling to Austria this week when he returns from international duty at the Copa America.

A round-up of the Sunday tabloid rumours starts with the News of the World where it is claimed West Ham United target Stephen Appiah has threatened to go out on strike to secure a move to the club. A source close to the Fenerbache midfielder confirmed Stephen will not join his team mates on their pre-season tour as he feels the loyalty he demonstrated by shunning previous opportunities to leave should now be repaid in full. The Ghana midfielder said: "It is my ambition to play in the Premier League and Fenerbahce need to listen to West Ham United's offer. They should now take my interests in to account after all I have done for them." In the same paper, it is suggested West Ham and Tottenham are both looking at Derby County Player of the Year Giles Barnes. The midfielder, 18, has a£4million price tag. He was also a target for Blackburn Rovers during the January transfer window and his father Bobby played 43 games for the Hammers. On the departure front, the News of the World are one of several papers to carry Carlton Cole is a £3million target for Besiktas. The striker joined West Ham a year ago in a £2million switch from Chelsea but made just five Premier League starts last season scoring twice. Sources close to the Turkish giants insist an official bid for Cole from is imminent.

Veteran hitman Teddy Sheringham wants former West Ham team mate Hogan Ephraim to join him at Colchester United according to both the Sunday People and Star. Striker Ephraim, 19, spent most of last season on loan at Layer Road and the U's are keen to re sign the player on a similar deal. The Star also believe Alan Pardew is still keen on taking West Ham United midfielder Hayden Mullins to Charlton Athletic. The Hammers stalwart was offered as a make-weight in a deal for Darren Bent last month only for the transfer to fall through. According to the story, Pardew admits he has not given up hope on taking the player. He said: "I like Hayden. He was my first signing at West Ham United and we will have to see because I am not sure what his role is at West Ham now." Meanwhile, Alan Curbishley wants to sign two more players. He is quoted in the Star as saying: "Money is available. We have made £20million on players we have sold."

Finally, Spanish news outlet AS report we are currently in talks with Eidur Gudjohnsen about a move to West Ham. AS claim the player's father and agent, Arnor, has held talks with Hammers chairman Eggert Magnusson and the former Chelsea forward is excited by the prospect of moving to Upton Park. There are no direct quotes and Eggert Magnusson has denied our interest in the player on numerous occasions so this story has only limited credibility at the moment.

Will It Ever Work Out For Bellamy?

Craig Bellamy is turning over yet another new leaf at West Ham, but the whole thing smacks of deja-vu.
By Barney Ronay

There was more than a whiff of déjà vu all over again about Craig Bellamy's move to West Ham. What was it, exactly, that struck such a familiar note? Holed up behind my smoky slatted blinds, fiddling with my green plastic sun visor and occasionally saying things like "I need facts dammit", I spent 72 hours doing the necessary research. And I'm afraid, Craig, sooner or later someone was going to notice.

It turns out three very specific things happen when Bellamy signs for a new club. First he announces that when so-and-so comes knocking on your door it's a dream come true and you just can't say no. "I could never turn Liverpool down," he said in 2006. Two years earlier he told us that, "when a club like Celtic comes for you, it's a massive thing". Previously he'd been convinced "Newcastle are a big club and this was an opportunity too good to miss".

Secondly his new employers make encouraging noises about Craig being a bit, you know, uppity, but don't worry; that's actually a good thing. "Craig Bellamy has a desire to win, it's in his make-up," Mark Hughes said, crossing all his fingers and toes, after signing him for Blackburn; and Steven Gerrard welcomed him to Anfield with the frankly underwhelming "it doesn't do any harm to have a player with what you might call a bit of a nasty streak".

Thirdly Craig makes a bold prediction about what's going to happen next. He is, of course, always wrong. "I want to bring the Premiership to Anfield," he tub-thumped last summer. "Anyone can get the fourth Champions League spot - including Blackburn," he dared to dream in 2005, before which it was "I want to win the league, not just for Celtic but for myself" (they didn't).

Sure enough all three resurfaced this week. "Craig's got some anger and that's not always a bad thing," Alan Curbishley warbled, ticking the I-can-change-him-this-time-he-really-loves-me box, about the same time Bellamy was busy striking his dream move note ("everything is perfect for me") and predicting European glory for the Hammers.

What does it all mean? Certainly Bellamy starts to come across a bit like a character in a Motown song; the kind of sharp-suited, sweet-talking, heavily tattooed no-goodnik who's always dropping in with his battered suitcase and silk hat, promising you a sixth-place Premiership finish, and then disappearing on the first train to the next massive opportunity at a club you just can't say no to.

At the same time signing him begins to look like a triumph of hope and faith in the face of failure, what Philip Larkin called "a joyous shot at how things ought to be", only with much more swearing and fighting.

He always sounds so convincing, you see. And he's obviously very talented. It's just in a way that involves never really scoring many goals but gradually working your way into a situation where you've got the chairman in a headlock and you're sending abusive text messages to the kit lady with your free hand while being chased across the car park by a delegation of enraged senior players.

Maybe things will work out this time. It's tempting to hope they do. And if not, the next time Bellamy moves on he could try to harness his anti-talent for talking up the future. Maybe he could say something like "Wigan is just where I've washed up. I'll score four goals and we'll finish 17th", while his manager admits, "yeah, Craig's totally nuts - it's a disaster really".

In which case, expect him to end up winning the golden shoe, beating Graeme Souness in an arm wrestle and, in a perfect world, not putting us through any of this again any time soon.

The Escape Route?

Legally West Ham have made life very difficult for themselves over Carlos Tevez writes Ian Felstead, sports lawyer at Olswang solicitors, but there may be a solution to their predicament. It is a tight spot but there is a workable solution...

The key stumbling block in the protracted saga involving Carlos Tevez and his transfer from West Ham United to Manchester United is the apparent insistence by Premier League that the bulk of the proceeds of the transfer remain with West Ham and not be passed on to the businessman, Kia Joorabchian, who is said to own the "economic rights" in Tevez. In some ways this is surprising, since the passing of proceeds of a transfer to a third party - or even an agreement to this effect - in itself is unlikely to be contrary to the rules of the Premier League.

At the centre of the problems concerning the transfer of Tevez is Rule U18 of the Premier League, which states that no club may enter into a contract which enables any third party "to acquire the ability materially to influence its policies or the performance of its teams".

In his blog on the BBC, Mihir Bose states that most football experts he has spoken to tell him that Rule 18 is an obscure rule. When it was initially designed by the former chief executive of the Premier League Peter Leaver, it was not even meant to cover player transfers. It had come in to deal with companies like Enic owning more than one club and the problems this would cause should the clubs meet in the same competition. Of course, historically Liverpool and Everton were both owned by the Moores of Littlewoods fame but those were different times when, so we are told by our elders, gentleman ruled the game, money and lawyers had not moved into football and nobody felt the Moores would do anything that was not proper and gentlemanly. Indeed, Rule 18 is so obscure that you have to search the Premier League rule book to find it. It comes in the section where there is also rule specifying that an advertisement for the Football Foundation must be in a club's matchday programme. The legal advice of many was that West Ham should be able to drive a coach and horses through Rule U 18 - but when it came to the hearing they pleaded guilty. Now, back to Felstead.

West Ham have long accepted that there was an agreement between them, Tevez and Joorabchian's companies which enabled Joorabchian to procure the termination of Tevez's playing contract during any transfer window and to compel West Ham and Tevez to transfer Tevez to another team. This clause was clearly a breach of Rule U18. When this came to light, West Ham were disciplined by the Premier League for their breach and also for their failure to disclose the agreement when questioned about it. The disciplinary panel fined West Ham a record £5.5m. However, crucially the panel neither deducted any points from West Ham nor cancelled Tevez's registration, leaving his registration as a matter for the Premier League.

The Premier League decided it would allow Tevez's registration to stand - and to allow him to play - if West Ham could confirm that the agreement with Joorabchian's companies had been satisfactorily amended (so that it no longer breached Rule U18) or was no longer in force. West Ham responded by stating that they had unilaterally served notice of termination of the agreement on Joorabchian. To lawyers, this was somewhat curious. One cannot usually terminate a contract unilaterally without good reason. It requires the other party to agree - otherwise it remains in force. In the event, Joorabchian did not agree and expressly reserved his position to sue on the contract. He, at least, thought it was still in force. This would mean West Ham were still in breach of Rule U18.

West Ham said that in any case they did not consider the agreement with Joorabchian was enforceable - since it constituted an unlawful restraint of trade - and assured the Premier League that they would continue to argue that the agreement was invalid and terminated (even if sued by Joorabchian) and that they would not perform their obligations under it. Somewhat surprisingly, the Premier League thought that satisfactory and allowed Tevez's registration to stand and for him to play. He then inspired West Ham to win all three remaining games, scoring three times, including at Old Trafford, which meant the club avoided relegation.

Now there is a transfer to United in the offing and speculation that the proceeds of the sale will be passed on to Joorabchian. The Premier League assumes this is not out of charity, but because West Ham are honouring a contract with Joorabchian which is still in force. This would obviously put in question the assurances provided by West Ham to the Premier League that they would treat the contract as invalid, the assurances which allowed Tevez to play those last three games. So West Ham have dug a hole for themselves. If they sell Tevez and pass the proceeds on to Joorabchian, the Premier League will want to know how this is consistent with the assurances they gave and, in the absence of a satisfactory explanation, they may institute fresh disciplinary proceedings. This may yet result in the deduction of points.

On the other hand, if West Ham keep the proceeds Joorabchian will undoubtedly sue them for the money, arguing that his contract with them is still in force. If he is successful, it will mean that West Ham did have an agreement with a third party in relation to Tevez in breach of Rule U18 and, once again, they may face disciplinary proceedings. But there may be a way out. While Rule U18 clearly prohibits any club entering into a contract with a third party which allows the third party, for example, to demand or prohibit a transfer of a player, there would appear to be nothing in the rule which prevents clubs simply agreeing to provide a share of the proceeds of a transfer to the third party. Indeed, clubs often agree to pass on a proportion of a transfer fee received to a third party, such as a player's former club in so-called "sell-on" fees.

West Ham may say that when they gave their assurance to the Premier League they had terminated their contract with Joorabchian's companies, or that they considered the contract invalid, it was only to the extent that the contract was incompatible with the Premier League's rules and did not cover the proceeds of sale (although it would have been helpful if they had actually said this at the time). They may even say that the Premier League is exceeding its authority by seeking to prevent the distribution of the proceeds of sale which would, in fact, be permissible under its rules.

This may not be foolproof. The Premier League, now under considerable pressure to take a tough line with West Ham, may say that, in any case, the club are again in breach of their obligation of good faith under its rules. But, in a tight corner, this may be West Ham's best option.

Appetite For War

Carlos Tevez will be unveiled as a Manchester United player on Thursday according to an 'exclusive' by Lee Clayton in the Mail. He will have a medical at the Carrington training ground on Wednesday and then will be pictured in a United shirt and holding a scarf aloft during a showy press conference to confirm his controversial arrival at Old Trafford the following day. It is a move designed to ratchet up the pressure on the Premier League and its chief executive Richard Scudamore, who are so far refusing to sanction the £35million transfer of the Argentina striker. Clayton states that it will be act of defiance, motivated by the belief of United solicitor Maurice Watkins and Tevez's owner Kia Joorabchian, that the deal breaks no rules and there is no legal argument to stop them. A source close to the deal said: "United would not have put themselves in this position if they did not expect the deal to go through. Tevez will arrive as planned and if anyone wishes to stop that they will need to find a legal argument to do so."

According to Jason Burt in The Independent the Premiership champions could be charged with "tapping up" Carlos Tevez if they continue to push for the striker's £35m transfer without the agreement of the Premier League. He insists that so far Manchester United have done nothing wrong in their attempts to sign the 23-year-old Argentine despite the controversy surrounding the complicated saga. But if Tevez flies into Manchester next week for an official medical, which his adviser Kia Joorabchian said will take place on Wednesday, United could risk the wrath of the Premier League. The organisation maintain that United should be dealing directly with West Ham United, Tevez's current club and the holders of his registration, and not Joorabchian. Yesterday a Premier League source warned that failure to do so could be a breach of their rules and therefore a case of approaching a contracted player without the permission of his employer. The punishments for the offence range from a fine to a ban on transfer activity for up to two transfer windows.

That stance appears perplexing because Joorabchian received an email four weeks ago from West Ham informing him that they would not be taking up the £40m option to buy Tevez. Since then, however, the Premier League have insisted that it is West Ham who have to do the deal and the club maintains it has had no contact with United and that no offer has been made to them. Joorabchian also claims that West Ham have agreed to the deal taking place but the club deny this, declaring that the businessman's actions are "irresponsible", even if, at the same time, club sources have hinted that a breakthrough may come at the beginning of next week; a belief strengthened by the decision arrived at in the High Court yesterday. John Ley, in his article in The Telegraph, quotes a West Ham spokesman as saying: "This is the end of an important chapter in this whole affair. It gives further legal certainty to the situation. Everybody wants to find a sensible solution in relation to the future of Carlos Tevez. There is more optimism in the air."

The Premier League are still demanding that West Ham stick to the undertakings the club gave after pleading guilty at a disciplinary hearing, that Carlos Tevez became solely their player when it tore up the agreement it had with Joorabchian- and are even threatening to convene a second inquiry - despite concerted pressure from United lawyer Maurice Watkins who has been tasked with sorting out a deal. Ironically Watkins was on the advisory panel that helped draw up the Premier League rules which West Ham then breached. Watkins spent last Friday at the organisation's headquarters but failed to change the minds of its chief executive, Richard Scudamore, or its chairman, Dave Richards. Jason Burt claims there is now an appetite at the Premier League for the issue to go to court so that it serves as a warning to clubs and to businessman against such agreements. That would need Joorabchian to sue West Ham, or indeed the Premier League, if he fails to receive the money he believes is due to him as the holder of Tevez's economic rights. However it also appears that he is intent on concluding a deal that would provoke the Premier League into taking action. The problem with that is that the organisation insists it will not hand over Tevez's registration until it is satisfied.

Joorabchian, meanwhile, released a statement yesterday denying "any wrongdoing whatsoever" after a Brazilian court issued an international arrest warrant over allegations of money-laundering. The warrant relates to an investigation at Brazilian club Corinthians, of which Joorabchian's company MSI is a major investor. Joorabchian insists all his financial dealings, including international transfers, were cleared by the Brazilian Central Bank. "I have co-operated fully with the authorities in Brazil and have previously offered to speak to them directly, an offer that they have not taken up," he said. "The investigation has been provoked by the desire of a small group of individuals in Brazil to gain control over Corinthians Football Club. All payments made to Corinthians by MSI were cleared through and approved by the Brazilian Central Bank. My Brazilian lawyers are instructed urgently to prevent me being personally involved any longer in this dispute. I believe this matter will be resolved very shortly."

Over at the Mirror they think Joorabchian may well be needed in court in England, with West Ham insisting the businessman and his company MSI do not have the authority to take Carlos Tevez to Manchester United. Darren Lewis says the Hammers are prepared to fight to show they still have control of Tevez's destiny despite Joorabchian insisting Tevez is his player and that he has the documentation to prove it. It is suggested that the Premier League and chief executive Richard Scudamore are now the ones in a compromised position since it was they who gave West Ham the option of unilaterally terminating Tevez's third-party agreement. West Ham simply did as they were asked and came to an agreement with Joorabchian which allowed them to play the striker in their final three games last season. Lewis also believes the Premier League were subsequently made aware Joorabchian was in possession of documents that confirmed his third-party ownership of Tevez, but chose not to act.

Bunker Mentality

Sheffield United's campaign for West Ham to be deducted points over the Carlos Tevez affair finally trundled to a halt today with the high court's decision to cut off the club's final avenue of attack. In a private hearing, the Blades were refused the right to appeal against an arbitration panel's decision to dismiss their claim for new disciplinary action to be taken against West Ham. The Guardian states that the ruling means that the £5.5m fine originally handed out to West Ham will remain the only punishment imposed on the club for including banned clauses in the contracts of Tevez and Javier Masceharno - and then deliberately concealing them from the Premier League authorities.

It does not, however, prevent Sheffield United from seeking financial compensation, something the club has previously suggested it would do, with a figure of £50million being mentioned. "Sheffield United have not been granted leave to appeal aspects of the arbitration panel's decision earlier this month," said the club's solicitor Paul Stothard outside the court. "This application was made on very limited grounds and it has also been denied on very limited grounds. Sheffield United are not precluded from taking further action whether against the Premier League or West Ham. We will consider our position with our professional advisors and make further statements in due course." Stothard insisted the Blades would continue to press for new action, but admitted compensation may now become the focus of their challenge, rather than reinstatement to the Premier League. "We now have to go and think about what we can do. As Kevin (McCabe, chairman) said recently we have a long agenda of things we can do with regard to this, we are still on the first page," he said. "I think you can be fairly confident that things won't rest there. If we cannot get reinstated then compensation would be top of the agenda because there are very significant consequences financially for being relegated from the Premier League wrongfully, as we believe we have been."

Sheffield United's drop into the Championship has not only produced an almost infinite number of column inches, but also a cult video. For some, United's demise came as no great surprise, and the subsequent fallout simply beggared belief. Still, as David Brent once said: "Every cloud..." The Telegraph notes that the silver-lining in this particular saga is not the disappearance of Neil Warnock who, presumably, is driving his tractor around his back garden wondering what could have been, but rather, a strange video from the vaults of the Third Reich...

Away from the courtroom shenanigans and there has actually been some proper football news to report; namely Paul Konchesky's move to Fulham. The defender moved from West Ham for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £2million. The 26-year-old becomes Lawrie Sanchez's fifth signing of the summer and has commited to a four-year deal at Craven Cottage. "I am delighted that Paul Konchesky has joined the influx of players that we have managed to bring to Fulham Football Club, " Sanchez said. "His calibre as a defender has been recognised on the international stage with England and he brings a wealth of Premiership experience to our side. At 26 Paul’s best footballing years will be spent at Craven Cottage and I am looking forward to him becoming an integral member of our side next season."

Konchesky began his career at Charlton Athletic, where he became the youngest first team player in their history aged 16 years and 93 days. He signed for West Ham in July 2005 and helped the side reach the FA Cup Final in his first season. It was also the year he won his only England cap to date. Following the arrival of Alan Curbishley as the new manager at Upton Park, however, Konchesky struggled to hold down a first team place. He made just four appearances between December and the end of the season. "When I knew that Fulham were interested in me I was really pleased," Konchesky said. "I then met with Lawrie and talked about his plans for the future here and I was really impressed with what he had to say; so it wasn’t a difficult decision to make the switch across London. Obviously the Club has made a few signings this window, so it’s a case of us all settling in and getting on with training, and I’m really looking forward to it."

Finally the Mirror claim Marlon Harewood will rush through his £3.7million move to Wigan today - in time to fly off with his new club to Holland. The paper states that Harewood's switch from West Ham was finally approved after lengthy haggling. The 27-year-old needs to agree terms and pass a medical to join the training camp.

The Gauntlet

Despite recent complications Kia Joorabchian remains confident all the necessary paper work will be completed in good time for Carlos Tevez to start the new season with Manchester United. The Iranian businessman, who was yesterday issued with an arrest warrant from a federal judge in Brazil in relation to his business dealings with Media Sports Investments (MIA), told Sky Sports News: "Carlos is going to come on Tuesday to do a medical on Wednesday at Manchester United. Hopefully we'll get all the administrative issues sorted next week and I hope everything will be okay, we don't foresee any problems. We spoke to Manchester United tonight (Thursday), they are quite confident we can have him registered by next week." According to his agent, Tevez will leave West Ham United with fond memories. "Carlos is a little bit sad because, in terms of West Ham, he felt very attached to the club last year," he said. " He loved his time there and it was kind of mutually agreed he would be there for a year and he was there for a year. He served his year. He's a sportsman, he doesn't really understand all the administrative bits and pieces, but he knows he's not in any way fighting with West Ham or demanding anything," said Joorabchian.

Chris Glendinning, writing in The Independent, states the gauntlet has been thrown down to the Premier League with this latest showing of bravado. Joorabchian stated: "It is our understanding that all parties involved in the transfer are now satisfied the administrative issues will be settled in the next few days," but, claims Glendinning, it remains unclear exactly which 'parties' are being referred to. Any deal must still be approved by the Premier League and last night they warned Joorabchian that Tevez's registration would not be transferred unless they were satisfied that West Ham conducted the transfer. A spokesman said: "Any deal for Carlos Tevez has to be done directly with West Ham United. They hold the registration and we will not transfer the registration unless a deal is done directly with the club."


BBC Sport's Jonathan Legard says West Ham are bewildered by Joorabchian's claims and have labelled them "irresponsible". The London club released a statement last night restating their position that no agreement has been reached and have confirmed again today that there has been no contact from Manchester United. Legard understands that any Tevez deal could now depend on Sheffield United's High Court date today. The Blades are trying to win back their place in the Premiership by saying West Ham should have been deducted points over the signings of Tevez and Javier Mascherano. They hope documentation from Kia Joorabchian, the duo's representative, can help their cause. "West Ham insist there has been no direct bid for Tevez and therefore the Premier League would not sanction the deal without confirmation that the club - not Joorabchian's management company - would receive the money," added Legard. "I'm told, however, that the result of Sheffield United's High Court appearance could decide the next stage of this saga. Joorabchian has been asked by the Yorkshire club to provide details of Tevez's contract and that could help unravel the contractual wrangle with Manchester United."

An article in the Express states it is a tough bargaining position being adopted by Kia Joorabchian on behalf of third-party owners MSI as the Hammers continue to stall on releasing the player’s registration. Behind the hard-line posturing is a threat to sue West Ham, with the Premier League also being dragged into any such action. According to the Express, MSI are banking on neither the Hammers, nor the Premier League, being prepared to go to court, especially as MSI claim to have further documentation, so far unseen by the League, to back up their claim to have full economic control of the player. Meanwhile the Premier League are set to come under pressure from their own member clubs to clarify claims that Joorabchian holds these secret documents – said to be “explosive” – that will shed new light on the Tevez affair. It is claimed there is a groundswell of opinion among clubs that Joorabchian should be asked to divulge paperwork he claims to hold, and a concern that the ugly saga is staining the image of English football world-wide.

Harry Harris insists Carlos Tevez ( a man who Joorabchian says doesn't really understand all the administrative bits and pieces) has told the Hammers he considers himself free of any contractual obligations to them and will sign for Sir Alex Ferguson’s United, who want him on a two-year loan deal with a view to a permanent £20million transfer. Harris also states that Premier League chiefs are desperately trying to find a solution, with who holds Tevez’s registration the key. Clearly, according to the timetable set out by MSI last night, that solution needs to be found quickly.

High Noon In The High Court

West Ham thought they had pulled off one of the biggest transfer coups in English football when they signed Carlos Tevez on Aug 31 last year, little realising that less than 12 months later the deal for the Argentina striker would end up being scrutinised by the High Court. Ben Hunt, writing in The Telegraph, charts the winding road that today sees Sheffield United asking for permission to appeal against the decision of an arbitration panel to dismiss their claims over the Carlos Tévez affair.

The Yorkshire club will need to prove to the High Court that the club should be given leave to appeal the decision of Sir Philip Otton's arbitration panel last week. Otton's judgment was that, although he would have deducted points from West Ham United for their failure to volunteer all details surrounding the third-party agreements that governed Carlos Tevez's career at Upton Park, he could not fault the Premier League's processes. That seemed to bring finality to the legal issues, since section S of the Premier League rulebook, which governs arbitration proceedings, demands that all parties submit to them on the understanding that judgments will be binding. But, say The Guardian, Sheffield United believe that Otton made an error in law by declining to order a new disciplinary commission to reconsider the punishment for West Ham's illegal conduct, prompting their court challenge today.

Sheffield United claim that the arbitration panel refused to analyse the seven reasons given by the Premier League commission for fining West Ham £5.5 million in April, rather than deducting points. The club feel some of those reasons were incorrect. In particular, they question why the commission felt justified to take into account the feelings of West Ham players and supporters and not the effect on fans from other clubs. The Premier League remains confident that the High Court will justify its handling of the affair. It maintains that the contract between West Ham and Kia Joorabchian, who owns the economic rights to Tévez, was terminated. Joorabchian disputes that. According to The Times, various legal experts have said that the chances of overturning the commission’s verdict are remote, but that they may have a better chance of success in claiming that the Premier League should not have allowed Tévez to play in the final three matches of the season. Sheffield United have asked Joorabchian to hand over paper-work relating to the transfer of the forward because it may help their case. West Ham claim that all documents are already with the Premier League.

"Don’t discount what might happen in the next few days," Kevin McCabe, the Sheffield United plc chairman, said. "This issue is not finished as far as we are concerned. It is ludicrous. Do you expect a company that owns the economic rights to Carlos Tévez and was willing to pay £15 million to get them from River Plate to walk away with nothing from his transfer to Manchester United? And do West Ham United expect them to get nothing? We’ve been digging up information that will be embarrassing for the Premier League to answer. Whether that means we have to take our place in the Championship, I don’t know."

It is hoped today's hearing should bring some clarity to a confused situation in which both West Ham and Tevez's handlers, Media Sports Investments, are asserting their exclusive rights over the player.

Arrest That Man!

A Brazilian judge yesterday ordered the arrest of Kia Joorabchian, the Iranian-born businessman who acts as the agent to West Ham's Carlos Tevez, after a lengthy investigation into accusations of money laundering in Brazil. The activities of Joorabchian and MSI first came under scrutiny in a 2005 report compiled by the Sao Paulo organised crime squad and the state public prosecutor. The Guardian state that Joorabchian is now formally accused of participating in a money-laundering racket involving the Brazilian club, Corinthians. MSI, a subsidiary of an offshore investment company, has been under investigation in Brazil since it took over the club in December 2004. Officials from the Brazilian intelligence agency are also known to have looked into the company's background but until now no concrete action has been taken.

"The [MSI] transactions are carried out with the use of numerous offshore accounts which have the single and well-known intention of distancing the investor and the illicit origin of the resources from their final destination, in this case the purchase and sale of [football] players," the federal attorneys Silvio Luis Martins de Oliveira and Rodrigo de Grandis were reported as saying by the Brazilian legal website consultor Juridico. Joorabchian has maintained his innocence throughout but yesterday the Sao Paulo-based judge Fausto Martin de Sanctis ordered his arrest alongside those of Corinthians president Alberto Dualib, Nojan Bedroud and the Russian business tycoon Boris Berezovsky, alleged to be the financial backer of MSI. None of the four men was in Brazil yesterday. Instead Brazilian authorities forwarded the warrants to Interpol while the bank accounts of MSI in Brazil were also blocked. Unconfirmed reports suggest Joorabchian may now be hiding in a cupboard in the Daily Mail central office.

Until he turned his attentions to the UK after Tévez’s move from Corinthians to West Ham last summer, Joorabchian was the public face of MSI in Brazil. In 2004 the company he founded signed a ten-year partnership agreement with Corinthians, wiping out debts of about £11.5 million and immediately investing heavily in players. Among those bought with MSI money were Tévez and Javier Mascherano, who helped Corinthians to the 2005 Brazilian championship, but only after the club was allowed to replay several games in the wake of a match-fixing scandal. The Times state that while Corinthians continued to enjoy success on the field, the Brazilian authorities began looking into why none of the money involved in the purchase of players appeared to pass through the country. The subsequent failure of MSI or Corinthians to explain the origin of the money – or how they intended to turn a profit – ultimately led them to launch an investigation amid suspicions of money-laundering.

Whether the allegations impact on Tévez’s impending move to Old Trafford remains to be seen. Sir Alex Ferguson made a very public pronouncement a few days ago that his club would not be party to anything even remotely "dodgy" and that the Tevez transfer would require "complete and total transparency". The Guardian claim that if the United manager did now have any concerns about the allegations facing Joorabchian, he will not have had far to go to speak to him. The pair were at Wembley Stadium for a Labour fundraiser dinner hosted by Gordon Brown last night when Judge Fausto Martin de Sanctis ordered the shock action. Joorabchian declined to comment on the charges.

Further reading: Mystery In Brazil; How MSI Misled Lyon;

Intrigue And Interpol

West Ham have been warned (again) by the Premier League that they face disciplinary action - which includes the option of a points deduction - if the dispute over the proposed transfer of Carlos Tevez to Manchester United is not concluded to their satisfaction. A Premier League spokesman said: "We have made it clear to West Ham that we will take action against them if they agree to Tevez's request to terminate his contract." An article in The Guardian states the Premier League believes that West Ham have severed all links to Tevez's representatives and are said to be unhappy at the prospect of Kia Joorabchian being the main beneficiary of a deal with Old Trafford, after being given assurances this year that West Ham, who own the player's registration, had cut all ties with the businessman and his company, MSI. "We are satisfied the agreement between West Ham and MSI no longer exists. Joorabchian says it does. The only way MSI can proceed is to sue West Ham for breach of contract," said the league spokesman.

In a related issue, the same paper suggests Joorabchian is prepared to hand over all the documentation relating to Tevez's contract at West Ham if tomorrow's high court ruling goes in favour of Sheffield United. The relegated club are pursuing legal action after the Premier League inquiry decided not to dock West Ham points for breaking two regulations in their signing of Tevez and his fellow Argentinian Javier Mascherano. The Independent go further and insist Joorabchian is so frustrated with the Premier League after it blocked Tevez's £35m move to Manchester United that he is threatening to appear as a witness for the Yorkshire club, if they win the right to a High Court challenge over the Premier League's handling of the affair. It is stated that he considered appearing as witness for the Blades at last month's arbitration hearing but decided against it. Now Joorabchian feels he may have little choice but to become involved if Tevez is to win the right to move clubs. For their part, Sheffield United accept that there is no time for them to be reinstated to the top-flight but are demanding up to £50million compensation because West Ham were fined rather than deducting points over the controversial signings of Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

Premier League chiefs insist they will not be intimidated by Kia Joorabchian's threats to produce “explosive” evidence supporting Sheffield United according to a report in the Mail. A Premier League source said that because West Ham pleaded guilty to the two charges brought against them any additional information would be of little consequence. The new evidence, claimed the source, may provide further confirmation the club broke the rules but that issue was not in doubt due to the guilty pleas. The tribunal had to decide whether the offence warranted a fine or points deduction. Sheffield United, state the Mail, will take the opposite view claiming had Joorabchian's evidence been available at the original tribunal West Ham would have been docked points and relegated in their place. Two weeks ago, the arbitration panel rejected Sheffield's claim for a new disciplinary commission to be set up to deal with West Ham over the Tevez affair. The Premier League have described their High Court case as "a very narrow window of appeal" claiming they expect the matter "to be expedited as quickly as possible".

The Telegraph reiterate that Manchester United have agreed terms with Tevez, who is playing for Argentina in the Copa America in Venezuela, and Joorabchian and hoped to have everything confirmed last week. Despite the deal apparently reaching an impasse, they are still desperately attempting to push ahead with the transfer. It is reported tonight that Tevez will fly to Old Trafford to undergo a full medical with a view to completing his move from West Ham to Manchester United early next week. Tevez's adviser Kia Joorabchian released a statement that reads: "On Tuesday Carlos Tevez will fly to Britain for a medical at Old Trafford as part of the process of his transfer to Manchester United. It is our understanding that all parties involved in the transfer are now satisfied the administrative issues will be settled in the next few days. We will not be adding further to this statement at this time." When Joorabchian says "all parties" that still doesn't include West Ham or the Premier League. A report tonight on Sky Sports reiterates no deal has been sanctioned confirming the transfer will go ahead and that the Argentina international remains a West Ham player. "There is no deal in place regarding Carlos Tevez," a statement from West Ham reads. "He remains contracted to and registered with West Ham and there is no change to that situation. Obviously, a move cannot take place without the agreement of West Ham and the Premier League."

Despite the diametrically opposed position of the two factions the Express claim Kia Joorabchian and West Ham are working frantically on a behind-the-scenes compromise that will facilitate the Tevez transfer. Despite Joorabchian and Eggert Magnusson now claiming they are happy for the matter to go through FIFA and the courts, Harry Harris 'reveals' the two parties are working hard to avoid that conclusion. Although both parties insist they have nothing to fear over the Tevez saga, a court date would not be in the interests of either. The article quotes an insider as saying: "You cannot imagine anybody wanting to open up this can of worms." Harris claims Upton Park officials fear Joorabchian would point out he never consented to the termination of the initial third-party agreement that breached Premier League rules. He has already looked into the possibility of having to prove he still holds the economic and commercial rights to Tevez, which would again open up the debate over whether West Ham should have been docked points and relegated, with Sheffield United reprieved. Joorabchian does not fancy appearing in court because there are suggestions his initial third-party contract could be judged to be legally invalid. When an independent commission originally investigated the transfers of Tevez and Javier Mascherano, West Ham QC Jim Sturman argued the agreement was not legally enforceable because there were clauses that represented a restraint of trade. Sturman’s defence won favour with Simon Bourne-Arton QC, chair of the case, who said: "Suffice it to say we see considerable force in Mr Sturman’s arguments. On the face of the documents, there are clauses that appear to us to be an obvious restraint of trade." West Ham would also question whether a third-party agreement that was set up by a previous regime and was in direct opposition to Premier League competition rules could be legally binding.

While Joorabchian seeks to avoid a court appearance here, he may well be facing a date with the law in Brazil. Breaking reports in the South American media this evening suggest Interpol has been asked to detain Boris Berezovksi, Kia Joorabchian, and Nojan Bedroud, the financial director of MSI, while in addition, MSI's assets in the country have been frozen to prevent the movement of any money that they may have in banks. It is hard to ascertain the veracity of these reports at this stage but it could be an interesting development nonetheless.

The Strife And Crimes Of Craig Bellamy

Not for the proud man apart
From the raging moon I write
On these spindrift pages
Nor for the towering dead
With their nightingales and psalms
But for the lovers, their arms
Round the griefs of the ages
Who pay no praise or wages
Nor heed my craft or art.
In My Craft Or Sullen Art (1952)

To say I’m conflicted about writing this post is a mild understatement. I disliked Craig Bellamy for his entire career before this summer and will surely dislike him again, from the moment he is unceremoniously moved on from the club, probably after taking a drunken swing with a nine-iron at some hapless 'scrubber' outside Faces, while he furiously texts taunting messages to Alan Shearer about some grudge neither of them can quite let go. In the meantime, while Bellamy wears the sacred crossed hammers on his chest, all past indiscretions shall be swept aside, explained away, subjugated by spurious reasoning; like Bellamy is actually an 'interesting' character', as Russell Brand contends, a man possessing the incendiary temperament of a poet- a dilettante Thomas. Or like Paul MacInnes posits, a political animal who's actions articulate the fact that defiance is at the very heart of his being.

What follows is the life and times of Craig Bellamy's footballing life, reproduced here in needlessly salacious detail. The unsavoury indiscretions that pockmark this tale should be treated as mere bagatelle. As Paul Abbandonato wrote: "I won’t pass judgement on Craig Bellamy’s so-called off-the-field antics, because most of us simply don’t know how much of the innuendo is true, and how much of it is way wide of the mark. However, what I do know for certain is that Bellamy is a very fine footballer, who scores goals, creates them by the bucket- load and brings a dynamism, buzz, verve and passion to any team he plays for." When Bellamy starred for Newcastle between 2002-2004, they finished 4th, 3rd and 5th in the Premiership respectively. As a result, they had some fantastic moments in the Champions League, Bellamy often being a shining force. He became an idol to many in Scotland by scoring goals galore and helping Celtic clinch the Scottish Cup. Celtic were desperate to keep Bellamy but he joined old Wales colleague Mark Hughes at Blackburn and his goals took the club into the UEFA Cup. Bellamy left Blackburn to join Liverpool. It wasn’t quite the season he expected at Anfield, but he was inspirational in helping take the Reds to the Champions League Final. Bellamy scored one goal, and created the winner in a historic 2-1 win over tournament favourites Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

I hold a beast, an angel and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their subjugation and victory, downthrow and upheaval, and my effort is their self-expression~ Dylan Thomas

Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979 in Canton, Cardiff) had an unsuccessful spell at Bradford Park Avenue and a trial at Bradford City before leaving home as a teenager to begin his career with Norwich City. His first team debut for the Canaries was at Crystal Palace on 15 March 1997 and he became a first team regular the following season, making 38 appearances and bagging 13 goals. After a further two injury-hit seasons in which the youngster managed to add another 20 goals, Bellamy was reportedly garnering attention from a plethora of top-flight clubs, with Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic all showing an interest.

In the summer of 2000, Bellamy earned a £6.5million move to Coventry City in a deal financed by Robbie Keane’s transfer to Inter Milan. Bellamy had expressed an interest to move on from Norwich, rejecting a new improved contract, and was keen to join Gordon Strachan. With the future of the existing transfer system in question, Norwich's board were keen to grab a club record fee to alleviate their debts. At the age of just 21 Bellamy glided into the first team dressing room and informed his new colleagues he was now the best player at their club. Despite his early 'confidence', the Welshman had an unsuccessful start to his career at Highfield Road, scoring only three goals by December, two of which were penalties. There were various rumours of a return to Norwich City, but it never materialized, and Coventry City faced up to relegation that year with Bellamy declaring himself unwilling to drop down a division. Despite his inability to find the net in a Sky Blue shirt, notching up six goals in 34 appearances, there was still demand for Bellamy’s services and in June 2001 Newcastle United manager Bobby Robson swooped to sign him for £6million.

The Welshman’s career got off to a flying start on Tyneside as he scored on his debut in a 4-0 win over Belgian side Lokeren. Under manager Robson, Bellamy formed a productive striking partnership with Toon idol Alan Shearer- Bellamy's pace complementing the former England captain's guile. He scored 16 goals and helped the Magpies qualify for the Champions League. Bellamy crowned his first season by scooping the PFA Young Player of the Year award, pipping such luminaries as Steven Gerrard. During his second season at 'the Toon' came probably his most important moment for the club as he scored two goals (including the winner) in the 3-2 victory over Feyenoord, which took Newcastle through to the second group stage of the UEFA Champions League. Unfortunately, in the next match (a 4-1 defeat to Inter Milan) he was sent off for kicking out at an Inter defender Marco Materazzi, which resulted in a three-match ban. Presumably the Welsh react just as badly to insults about their sister as the French do. In February Bellamy was handed a record- breaking £100,000 club fine for receiving a police caution over an assault on young Newcastle University student Charlotte Smith. The incident came just three months after being sent home from a club trip to southern Spain when, rather than attend a dinner held in honour of former Newcastle supremo Sir John Hall, he went with team-mates "to a local bar for a meal and a few quiet drinks". The following March the Welsh firebrand threw a chair at then-first-team coach John Carver during a row over a car parking space at Newcastle Airport, and then in 2003 he was acquitted of racially-aggravated harassment after an incident outside a Cardiff nightclub.

After Bobby Robson's departure in August 2004, Bellamy had a very public falling-out with his replacement as Newcastle manager, Graeme Souness. On 23 January 2005 the striker was omitted from the team for a Premiership match with Arsenal. Before the match, Souness said that Bellamy had a hamstring problem, but contradicted himself in a post-match interview, claiming that Bellamy was benched for being unwilling to play as a right-sided midfielder. One paper said at the time that the striker had unleashed “a stream of consciousness about his disaffection at playing on the wing” when questioned by Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd. Minutes later, Bellamy gave an interview of his own saying that he was prepared to play in any position. He admitted that he had threatened to fake injury ahead of the Arsenal match, and in a later interview accused Souness of lying about him. Two days after the match, the club fined Bellamy two weeks' wages (about £80,000) and Souness was possibly overheard saying: "If that Welsh fucker ever thinks he's playing for me again, I'll bust his bollocks in a dark alley...". Not before allegedly grabbing Bellamy by the throat and dragging him into the empty Newcastle training-ground gym for a 'chat' first though.

On 31 January 2005 (transfer deadline day) Bellamy was sent on loan to Celtic for the remainder of the season, scoring seven league goals in just 12 appearances. He was part of the squad that went onto win the Scottish Cup, his first career trophy. The Bhoys were keen to sign him permanently, and despite subsequently shunning a move to Birmingham City- texting Souness and chairman Freddy Shepherd with the message: 'I am Craig Bellamy and I don't sign for shit football clubs'- it was announced that he was to return to the Premiership with Blackburn Rovers for a transfer fee rumoured to be between £2.5 million and £5 million. He signed a four year contract and was reunited with former Wales manager Mark Hughes. Bellamy again proved his Premiership class, netting seventeen goals for Blackburn (including two terrific efforts against Portsmouth) in a highly successful but injury-tempered season. Bellamy's rejuvenation sparked renewed interest in him from a handful of top teams, although old club Newcastle United were definitely not among them. "People who have been here for 40 years had begged me not to let him back," said Newcastle United assistant manager Terry McDermott. "I've never come across so much hatred and unrest over one person - what I've learned about him has astonished me."

The player made himself further unwelcome at St James' Park when some abusive text messages were sent from his phone to club captain Alan Shearer after Newcastle's FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester United that year. The messages informed 'Big Al' that he was ‘past it’ and that ‘his legs had gone’, among the more printable moments of that particular SMS. Shearer was with the Newcastle squad in Republic of Ireland for Jackie McNamara’s testimonial golf day. Bellamy's agent has insisted his mobile had been lost at the time and he was not responsible for the texts. Kenneth Shepherd, son of Newcastle chairman Freddy, also received gloating text messages. Shearer is alleged to have threatened to "knock his block off" if Craig Bellamy ever returned to Tyneside, while Freddy Shepherd promised to "chin him" if their paths ever crossed again. The feud with Newcastle United resurfaced in September of the following season after Liverpool's victory over the Magpies. Assistant Manager Terry McDermott branded Bellamy, now a Liverpool player, a "little upstart" after he was said to have interrupted a conversation McDermott was having with referee Mark Halsey after the match had finished. "It had nothing to do with anyone else and I take exception to little upstarts like him," McDermott fumed. "He was 100 per cent out of order. Everywhere he has been he has been in bother and it is starting again at Liverpool". McDermott also revealed that Bellamy was hated at Newcastle.

Bellamy was the subject of a transfer bid from FA Cup winners Liverpool in June 2006, after Reds manager Rafael Benitez triggered a £6.5million clause in the player’s contract and Blackburn were obliged to allow him permission to talk to the club. Benitez stated that Bellamy "has the ability, the pace and the talent we've been looking for", and that he expected talks to go well, particularly as Bellamy is known to have supported Liverpool in his youth. He signed for the club on 23 June and officially became a Liverpool player on July 1, 2006. Bellamy got off to a slow start for Liverpool. Despite an impressive pre-season and scoring on his debut against Maccabi Haifa, Bellamy struggled for Premiership goals, eventually scoring his first against former club Blackburn Rovers. Bellamy finally made an impact against Wigan Athletic, inspiring Liverpool to a 4-0 victory with two goals and one assist. It was his first game after being cleared of assaulting a woman in a Cardiff bar. The troubled Welshman went on trial and was eventually proved not guilty. Bellamy claimed in court that he himself had been assaulted when one of the women bringing charges against him slapped his face. Sophie Palmer, who was 19, claimed Bellamy grabbed her around the throat and held her against a wall after they exchanged heated words in a corridor at the club. Holly Smith, who was 18, accused him of grabbing her by the wrist. Bellamy's defence said he was walking along the corridor when he caught Miss Palmer's eye and she asked what he was looking at. He said he replied: "Not you. If I was looking at anyone it would be those two girls over there. They're far prettier than you." Bellamy said that is was then that Miss Palmer responded by slapping him across the face. Three scumbags and one row in a shite nightclub then basically.

In February 2007 it was alleged that Bellamy attacked team mate John Arne Riise with a golf club during a team training session in Portugal. Both players were fined two weeks pay by the team and the incident earned Bellamy the nickname "The Nutter with the Putter". Manager Benitez accepted the players' apology and in the first match following the incident, away at Barcelona, Bellamy celebrated his 1-1 equalizer, after Deco had headed Barca into the lead, by emulating a golf stroke. What was even more remarkable is that he set up the winner in that match, assisting none other than Riise.

Bellamy announced to football programme Wales on Saturday on 28 April 2007 that he would leave Anfield in the summer transfer window and was linked at the time to Aston Villa, AS Roma and Juventus. Newcastle United were also mentioned in dispatches and it was enough to drive old nemesis Alan Shearer to drink. "I was having a few days away in France with Gary Speed and Steve Harper and the wives and I picked up a newspaper. I was having a fantastic day. But when I read Bellamy for Newcastle, I thought I would have to have another drink, so I had several." Bellamy's given reasons were lack of communication with Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez and conflicting opinions on how he should be utilised in a match. The next day, Craig angrily dismissed this story on the club's official website. He was disappointed that he had to deal with this issue while preparing for such a big match as the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea. Bellamy reassured the fans that he was 100% committed to the club and even stated that Benítez was the manager he has admired most during his career. Liverpool went on to win the semi-final, and while at the sidelines, Craig could be seen talking to his manager and their relationship seemed fine. He was however, left on the bench as an unused substitute in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final 2007 as Liverpool lost 2-1 to A.C. Milan. Bellamy managed nine goals in 27 appearances for the Reds.

Bellamy holds the record as Wales' youngest Under-21 international gaining his first U21 cap against San Marino at the age of 16. He was also Wales' fifth youngest cap for the full team when he made his senior international debut for Wales during the 1997-98 season, playing in a friendly game against Jamaica at the age of 18. Two years later Bellamy became the first Wales player to be sent off in five years. He has so far earned 45 caps for his country, scoring 13 goals. In October 2006, Bellamy was awarded the captain's armband by Welsh manager John Toshack when Ryan Giggs was unavailable through injury for the Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovakia. It was a shock decision given the fact the player was due in court that week to face yet more assault charges. At the end of last season, following the retirement of Giggs from international football, the striker was confirmed as the country's new captain on a permanent basis, and will now look forward to joining his national team colleagues Danny Gabbidon and James Collins at Upton Park.

Political Machinations

I've been putting this off but it really is time to update the Carlos Tevez situation. The thing seems to change course by the minute so by the time I finish typing this everything could be very different, although probably no nearer a satisfactory resolution. The Guardian reports that Manchester United's pursuit of the player has edged closer to the courts over the last 24 hours after the Premier League rejected an attempt by MSI to cancel his registration with West Ham United. The Premier League also rejected a personal letter from Tevez in which he notified them that he was terminating his contract with the London club. Naturally, The Premier League refused to countenance both Tevez's letter and MSI's request on the grounds that it does not consider that MSI have any rights over the player's registration, having been informed by West Ham that the club has torn up its agreements with MSI.

In a separate move, it has also been revealed West Ham have themselves rejected two written requests to cancel Tevez's playing contract. Sources claim two letters, one from Tevez and the other from his management team, arrived at Upton Park yesterday in an attempt to kick-start the transfer to Manchester United. West Ham pointed to last Friday's statement by chairman Eggert Magnusson saying: "Carlos Tevez is a registered West Ham player, contracted to the club until June 2010. There is no agreement with West Ham for Carlos Tevez to leave the club." West Ham are aware that if they do anything contrary to the Premier League's instructions they could be left open to further disciplinary action over third-party agreements. The Premier League are concerned that any weakening in their determination, that West Ham United should receive most of the proceeds from the transfer, would provide Sheffield United with fresh ammunition to pursue their case against the League for not establishing whether the agreement was terminated.

The Times suggest there is a growing feeling among certain factions that the Premier League has been intervening to protect its position. Gary Jacob states that the three parties involved in the negotiations all feel that a legal and satisfying deal can be obtained but the interference of the League means the FA is now expected to be asked to act as arbitrator to oversee Carlos Tévez’s move to Manchester United. FA Officials are already said to be monitoring the situation and are in close contact with the Premier League. The FA have the power to take action but will only get involved in the dispute in response to a specific request. Jason Burt, writing in The Independent, insists that United, West Ham United - Tevez's current club - and MSI, the company which claims to hold the player's "economic rights" have all already approached the FA to try to push through the transfer. If they do not receive a favourable response the parties are also ultimately threatening to go to FIFA, football's world governing body. It is unclear, suggests Burt, what jurisdiction either the FA or FIFA would have over the Premier League on the issue of player's registration and the payment of transfer fees.

For their part, FIFA say they may be prepared to step in an attempt to settle the transfer dispute - but they have yet to receive any official request to do so. A FIFA spokesman said: "We have not received any official request from any of the parties involved so far. If we do receive a request we would then decide whether we have to look at it or if it is up to the FA to rule on it. The FA could also ask us for guidance and send us all the relevant information." According to the Mail, that request could be imminent. They claim Tevez's representatives - led by businessman Kia Joorabchian - are ready to report the matter to FIFA who are the ultimate regulators of transfers. The world governing body could be asked to rule if Tevez should be allowed to cancel his contract with West Ham - which has three years still to run - in order to join United. "Any party can send a case to FIFA as long as they can prove it is related to an international transfer," confirmed the spokesman. "FIFA can request documentation from all parties involved and decide whether to look into the case or if it is a matter for the Football Association." One problem for Joorabchian, suggest the Mail, will be proving the Tevez deal is an international transfer. Although he is likely to argue the move involves United dealing with a third party not based in the UK, the Premier League will say the transfer is a domestic deal between the Manchester club and West Ham.

The moves by MSI to free up the player to join Manchester United came as it emerged that the Old Trafford hierarchy has categorically ruled out paying West Ham anything for the player as they do not consider that the London club are his owners. United are satisfied that West Ham have no rights over Tevez and think that Tevez's registration will transfer to them as they believe that technically the Argentinian forward is a free-agent. United's position, established after talks with MSI, who own Tevez's commercial rights, directly contradicts the Premier League's view. According to The Guardian, United's confrontational stance threatens to undermine the agreement reached between the Premier League and West Ham in April after the club was found guilty of breaking rules governing third-party agreements. On the morning after West Ham were fined £5m for breaching regulation U18 the Premier League board informed West Ham that Tevez could continue playing for them if the offending contract, between West Ham and MSI, was unilaterally terminated by the club. West Ham are bound by undertakings given in a letter to the Premier League following the ruling in which they said the contract with MSI had been terminated. The league also made it clear that it has power of veto over any transfer, and that it would only accept a commercially realistic transfer fee for the player. The league will also not wave through any deal in which Joorabchian was the primary beneficiary. Were they to allow any such deal, or for the transfer to take place without West Ham's approval, it would make a mockery of the assertion that the third-party agreement with MSI was terminated.

The Guardian believe this all leaves legal action in either the civil courts or the Court of Arbitration for sport as the the most likely resolution to the deadlock, and the escape route that would allow all parties to retire satisfied. If, they suggest, the CAS were to assert MSI's rights to receive a fee for Tevez the Premier League would have little choice but to allow the deal to proceed, but would be seen to have defended the integrity of its regulations. West Ham, who had not expected a transfer feel before the league's intervention, would also be happy with such an outcome.

This brings the Carlos Tevez affair right up to date... or at least it did up until a few minutes ago. Sky Sports News are now reporting that Kia Joorabchian's representatives are handing over previously undisclosed documentation to Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe that could 'undermine West Ham's previous defence and strengthen their case against the Premier League'. See you tomorrow then.

Yossi Benagone

Most of today's papers are reporting Yossi Benayoun's transfer to Liverpool as a 'done deal.' The Guardian state the player will sign a four-year contract with the Anfield club today, pending a medical. The Israel captain was on manager Rafael Benítez's wish list since impressing him playing for Racing Santander in La Liga and performing outstandingly against Liverpool in the 2006 FA Cup final. The go-ahead came after protracted negotiations following Benayoun's sudden refusal to sign a new contract he had earlier agreed with West Ham. Liverpool had offered £2million and then £4million for Benayoun before finally coming close to West Ham's valuation. The Merseyside club will pay the Hammers £5million and the midfielder is expect to earn around £50,000 a week. People close to the player said yesterday that "it was his childhood dream" to play for Liverpool. Benayoun's agent Ronen Katzav stated: "Everybody would be happy to play for Liverpool. West Ham will always be in his heart but he is looking to move up a level." The Daily Mail claim Benayoun resisted a last minute offer from Manchester City to seal his £5million move to Liverpool. The Israel midfielder accepted a four-year deal that will reward him with around £45,000 a week but still leave him £2million worse off than if he had responded to overtures from Manchester. The Telegraph insist the actual fee is nearer £4million but then they also think Benayoun is only 25-years-old so the veracity of this particular article can reasonably be questioned.

Elsewhere, Wigan's manager Chris Hutchings remains confident he can follow up Jason Koumas' £5.3million arrival at the club by securing the signature of the West Ham forward Marlon Harewood. According to a report in The Guardian, Hutchings wants to add Harewood to his new-look squad but as of yet the two clubs have been unable to reach an agreement. It is implied that West Ham are reluctant to sell to Wigan after 'Honest' Dave Whelan, the Wigan chairman, engineered a protest to deduct points from West Ham over the Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano affair. Hutchings insists that episode is in the past and hopes a deal to sign Harewood could be concluded in the next few days. "We've shown an interest in Marlon and that is on-going," said Hutchings. "The size of the fee and all the other stuff is for the other people to sort out. What happened towards the end of last season is in the past. You can't look back. You have to give West Ham credit for the run they put together to stay up."

Another player looking hard at the exit door is Paul Konchesky. Birmingham manager Steve Bruce has confirmed his interest in the West Ham defender but admits the two clubs are “a bit apart” on the price — the Blues have made a bid in the region of £2million but it is understood the Hammers are looking for double that for the former England full-back. "It is not for me to talk about players — but, yes, Paul Konchesky is someone we are looking at. We put a bid in about three weeks ago and that hasn't changed. It is fair to say our valuations are a bit apart at the moment. But I'd like to bring in a bit of experience."

Sky Sports report that Stephen Appiah has requested that he is given permission to discuss a possible move to West Ham. The Fenerbahce midfielder has been a reported target for the club for several weeks and the 26-year-old Ghana captain feels he at least deserves the chance to consider a move over the summer. "If West Ham United have expressed strong interest in me then I think Fenerbahce will have to listen to their offer and other offers on the table for me," Appiah said. "It is public knowledge that I want to move to England in the interest of the education of my kids, who still live in Italy because of their education. At the start of last season I turned down several offers from top clubs in Europe just to help Fenerbahce lift the title because of my love for the team and fans. Even while I was injured I continued to play to secure the title so they should also take my interest into consideration and listen to the offers. It is only fair that having served them with all my heart they should also take my interest into consideration even though I understand I have a contract with this great Turkish club. I want my future to be sorted out soon so that I can make my future plans now."

The Angry Ant Reborn

The Football Association and FIFA are set to be called in to broker a solution to the Carlos Tevez affair. Reports emerging tonight suggest that some of those involved in the negotiations do not believe the Premier League can act as independent arbiter in the case any longer. Tevez's representatives are set to request help from the FA and FIFA - the two bodies who oversee transfers at a domestic and international level and it is understood any such move would be endorsed by Manchester United, who are anxious to get a deal finalised.

A 'source close to the negotiations' (but presumably not one on West Ham's side off the table) said: "Diplomatic moves are being made. We are in deadlock and we need an independent body to try and sort this mess out. The lawyers all agree Manchester United and Joorabchian are within their rights to do a deal - but the Premier League are saying they can't. The Premier League seem to have a vested interest now. They are covering their own backs after allowing West Ham to continue playing Tevez last season. Their whole argument is built on the premise West Ham tore up Tevez's contract and claimed to control the player. But any court in the land will tell you they cannot do that." Unless FIFA or the FA can help manufacture a breakthrough, the matter would appear to be heading for the courts. Meanwhile, Alan Curbishley is adamant West Ham United will have a say in whether Carlos Tevez joins Manchester United. Speaking for the first time about the situation, the West Ham manager insisted that the East London club must be involved in the decision-making process regarding Tevez's future. "Obviously, Manchester United are interested," Curbishley told Sky Sports News. "Whatever happens has got to go through West Ham, that's the situation. I've kept quite out of it, that's for other people and we'll see what happens."

In other news, Alan Curbishley believes that new signing Craig Bellamy will enjoy the prime years of his career with West Ham United. Having made the 27-year-old striker his fourth capture of the summer in a club record £7.5million deal this morning, the Hammers boss is looking forward to the impact he will make at Upton Park. "I'm really pleased to have signed Craig," said Curbishley. "He is the right age, with the right experience, and has two qualities that I really like - he is hungry and also a little bit angry. He is keen to prove to lots of people what he can do, having not been given much of a chance at Liverpool. They have moved on now, but so has Craig, and I'm certain that we are going to see the best of him at West Ham. He has an opportunity now to cement some roots and show everybody what a good player he is. I'm sure he will strike up a good rapport with the fans, because he tries his hardest in every match and desperately wants to win... He is hungry to do well and I'm sure he will be a great asset to us. Along with Scott Parker, Julien Faubert and Richard Wright, his arrival has added further strength to the squad, and we are all looking forward to the new season."

While Curbishley welcomes the new arrivals, one man seemingly on his way of the club is Yossi Benayoun. Reports tonight suggest West Ham and Liverpool have finally reached an accord over a fee for the Israeli midfielder, believed to be in the region of £5million.

Bellamy Signs (Officially)

West Ham have today confirmed the signing of the Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy for a club-record £7.5million. The Welsh international captain finally completed his transfer from Anfield this morning after several days of speculation, putting pen to paper on a five-year contract to become Alan Curbishley's fourth summer recruit. "I'm delighted to be here," Bellamy announced. "It's taken a little bit longer than I would have liked but the main thing is that it is done now and I can look forward to the challenge ahead."

The 27-year-old striker stated he was only persuaded to leave behind Champions League football at Liverpool after seeing the drive and ambition on display at West Ham United. "I knew around two weeks ago that there was an opportunity for me to head away from Liverpool, but I had to make sure that any move was the right one for me and not just an off the cuff reaction," he said. "I had a lot to weigh up, and in the end I decided that West Ham United was the best move for me, and that's why I'm sitting here now. I wanted to make sure that, if I left Liverpool, it would be to a club that is going to be pushing for Europe. I want to play in Europe, it's important to me, and I felt that same drive and ambition here at West Ham. Obviously it would be naïve of me to say that we are going to qualify for the Champions League next season, but that's one thing we are really going to be pushing for here in the future. The Club is looking to strengthen what is already a very good squad, and West Ham are renowned for their open and attacking football, so everything is perfect for me."

Just as it was for his former Blackburn Rovers team-mate Lucas Neill in January, the potential to be an integral part of something big at Upton Park proved a very attractive and decisive proposition for Bellamy. "I had a great experience at Liverpool and I believe West Ham will benefit this year, because I know I am a better player for it," he said. "I supported Liverpool as a boy and would have had the chance to play Champions League football again next season, but I needed to look beyond that, in the same way that Lucas Neill did when he came here. I understood Lucas's position. If he'd joined Liverpool, he would have been a squad player, like I was. Some people don't understand it, but the opportunity to be a senior figure at an ambitious club like West Ham is very attractive. It was important for me to start playing regular football. I could sit at Liverpool as a squad player all day long, picking up my money, playing every now and then, but I'd be cheating myself and my personality. I want to play every week, to test myself and be in the firing line a little bit. I've signed a five-year contract here, and I will be here for the long term. I've moved around a bit in recent years, and now I want to settle. I'm 28 later this week and hopefully approaching the prime years of my career. I believe West Ham are going to see the best of me, I'm focusing on giving my all for the Club and I'm really looking to the challenge ahead."

In other transfer news, Sky Sports are reporting West Ham have handed a trial to Yanniks Okkas. The 30-year-old Cypriot international is currently without a club after leaving Olympiakos and has long been linked with a move to England. Reports suggest that should Okkas impress manager Alan Curbishley - then there is a two-year deal waiting for him.

The Impasse Continues

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted the club are close to signing Carlos Tevez from West Ham according to new reports emerging today. The 23-year-old Argentine striker agreed personal terms with United last week and Ferguson, speaking at a press conference to present new signings Nani and Anderson, revealed: "We are in negotiations and want to make sure there are no side issues. The essential parts are agreed. Hopefully it will be finalised soon. To be honest, I thought it would have all been sorted by the weekend just gone. It must be the Premier League that is holding it up." Having only allowed Tevez to play in the final three games of last season because a so-called 'third-party agreement' between West Ham and Joorabchian had been ripped up, the Premier League are anxious the Hammers should be the main financial beneficiaries of any move. However, Joorabchian is adamant Tevez remains his property and any financial windfall should come to him. The waters are further muddied by the fact that West Ham, who insist they cut all ties with Joorabchian after they were fined in April, expect Tevez to return to east London after he concludes his international duties at the Copa America in Venezuela.

Manchester United legal expert Maurice Watkins has been left to find a solution to the impasse. The Red Devils are confident a compromise can be reached by the time Tevez's current commitments with Argentina at the Copa America are concluded at the weekend. "Club solicitor Maurice Watkins has been working on it for a month, maybe more, to make sure the deal is perfectly clear," said Ferguson. "From what chief executive David Gill and Maurice said, everything was ready to go. Unless something is being held back from us, I don't know of anything that is holding it up." An article in The Guardian states United are at a loss to understand why the Tevez move has stalled given the contract drawn up is almost exactly the same as the one which enabled Javier Mascherano to move from West Ham to Liverpool in January. The Premier League's argument is that since Mascherano's Upton Park exit, an independent commission has ruled the Argentina pair's Hammers' contracts were in breach of regulations. To acknowledge now that Joorabchian still controls the player's future would involve a major climbdown. The matter could yet end up in the courts, or require the involvement of Fifa, though Ferguson insists United will not submit to anything 'underhand'. "We are following the procedure of Javier Mascherano," Ferguson said. "The essential thing for us is that everything is agreed. We want complete clarity in the deal, with no suspicions or anything dodgy. There is no way we will be involved in anything underhand." (cough.. John Obi Mikel... Elite sports agency... cough)

Meanwhile, Carlos Tevez's representatives have accused the Premier League of double standards over their handling of the proposed transfer to Manchester United. Speaking to PA Sport, a source close to the situation said: "Why were the Premier League not interested when Mascherano moved to Liverpool? It was exactly the same deal. The Premier League scrutinised that transfer but did not insist on West Ham receiving any of the money from that deal." The Premier League, however, maintain the two situations are different because the third-party agreement in Mascherano's West Ham contract was ended when he moved on to Liverpool. A piece in The Independent reiterates that in the case of Tevez, West Ham opted to keep the player and unilaterally terminate the third-party clause in his contract following an independent disciplinary commission hearing, allowing the Argentina striker to play a key role in the Hammers' successful fight against relegation. A Premier League statement said: "Our position remains the same. Any deal for the transfer of Carlos Tevez has to be struck directly with West Ham United and we support West Ham United in asserting their rights over their player."

Elsewhere, thick-skinned Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has called for temporary moves to be banned in the Premiership. Parry, formerly chief executive at the Premier League, believes the loan system could be abused and thinks clubs are wealthy enough to make the practice unnecessary. He said: "When I was at the Premier League we always took the view that, given the money in the Premier League, you didn't need loans - you should be able to stand on your own two feet. There is enough money around to make transfer deals permanent. That stood for over 10 years. It's only in the last two or three years we have had the loan system in the Premier League." The man who had no problem in taking Javier Mascherano to Liverpool in January would presumably like to see changes introduced that would prevent Carlos Tevez making a similar move to Manchester United but concedes that most of Liverpool's top-flight rivals did not share his views. "It worked fine without it. There is a sense that it can be open to abuse. But clearly it was the will of the clubs to allow the relaxation of it and clearly the majority are in favour," he said.

Bellamy Signs (Almost)

The other major West Ham related story to trouble the media today has been Craig Bellamy's impending arrival from Liverpool. The Observer confirm the two clubs have agreed a fee but the deal will not be finalised until Monday. Liverpool's manager Rafael Benítez claimed that the Welsh striker had already signed a contract. "It's done. It's a good move for him," he told reporters yesterday afternoon; but this was followed by a statement on the West Ham site that read: "After a fee of £7.5million was agreed between the two clubs, we can confirm that the Welsh international captain has successfully passed a medical and agreed personal terms. However, the deal has been delayed due to a private contractual issue between Craig Bellamy and Liverpool, which must be resolved before any transfer can be completed. The player is due to meet with Liverpool on Monday morning, and we expect to complete the transfer soon after."

The Times believe the deal could eventually be worth up to £8 million and that it is a four-year contract worth about £70,000 a week. The actual figure is nearer £45,000 a week but then Eggert Magnusson's stated insistence on a £55,000 weekly salary cap is proving a bit of an unpalatable truth for the West Ham baiting press. James Ducker writes that Bellamy is joining his seventh club since making his debut for Norwich City in 1996 and despite having cost a total of more than £30 million in transfer fees, he has yet to make the impact that his talent suggests he should. He then offers a potted breakdown of the 27-year-old's colourful past.

Clubs in the bag

Craig Bellamy has played for six clubs. More often than not, he has not left fond memories behind.

1. Norwich City 1996-2000 Showed his potential at Carrow Road, despite suffering injuries
2. Coventry City 2000-01 Cost £6.5 million but left when Coventry went down
3. Newcastle United 2001-05 Run-ins with Graeme Souness led to the £6 million striker being loaned out
4. Celtic 2005 Upset Alan Shearer with abusive text messages while in exile in Scotland
5. Blackburn Rovers 2005-06 Fine season after £5 million move but was off at first interest from Anfield
6. Liverpool 2006-07 Hit John Arne Riise with a golf club and scored in the Nou Camp to help to beat Barcelona. Fair return for £6 million

Rod Liddle continues the spite and ponders the question: Who do you think Craig Bellamy will punch first at Upton Park? He writes:

"It’s going to end in tears one way or another, isn’t it? Hammers fans should maybe look on the bright side. Usually in the close season your team buys a foreigner, some strange-looking cove from Sporting Plutonium of Minsk or Dinamo AntiSemite of Croatia and you think well, hey, who knows, maybe he’ll be good for us, the gaffer obviously saw something in him... The great thing about Bellamy, assuming the move from Liverpool goes through, is that you can spare yourself all the angst and false optimism and hate him right this second. Especially if he’s being paid more money in a season than every other West Ham player in history added together and then multiplied by five. Maybe it was a hidden stipulation from the FA at the end of all the Tevez shenanigans – okay, we won’t dock you any points, but you have to buy Bellamy, and pay through the nose for it."

The Mail state Bellamy will become West Ham's fourth summer signing and take manager Alan Curbishley's spending since he arrived at Upton Park in December to nearly £40million. They also point out that the fee for Bellamy breaks West Ham's previous transfer record of £7.25million, which the Hammers paid Norwich for Dean Ashton in January 2006. One man who thinks he will be worth it is Sir Geoff Hurst. "In any sport you need people who are characters but there has been suspicion about Craig's character," he told Sky Sports News. "Undoubtedly he's a good player but when you pay a lot of money for someone you want them to be successful and we're going places now with the manager. You want to be sure you get the right man on and off the field. He's still young, he's still learning and if he has learned form his mistakes, undoubtedly he's a terrific talent. From a talent point of view he would do our club the world of good."

Jason Burt, writing in The Independent, is another who think Bellamy's wages will top £70,000 a week. The thing puzzling him is why Yossi Benayoun was not included in any deal. He states Liverpool have offered £4million for Benayoun, who has infuriated officials at West Ham with his behaviour once he was made aware of Rafael Benitez's interest, and recounts how Benayoun shook hands on a new five-year contract to stay at Upton Park - doubling his wages to £50,000 a week - but then stalled on signing the deal, saying he needed a holiday and wanted to wait until his wife had given birth. On returning he then insisted he wanted a clause inserted in his new contract that he could leave if Liverpool bid £5million for him. West Ham reacted by withdrawing the contract offer, while Benayoun has apparently now responded by saying he will never play for the club again. West Ham were initially considering making a swap offer for Liverpool's Djibril Cisse but the Frenchman favours a move back to Marseilles, where he spent a loan spell last season.

Burt claims Charlton Athletic are hoping to sign the West Ham midfielder Hayden Mullins, who will be allowed to leave Upton Park, although they will face competition from Reading. Rumours were rife last night that a £1million offer from the Addicks had already been accepted. He also declares that Reading left-back Nicky Shorey is no longer a target for Alan Curbishley and is now expected to sign a new contract at the Madejski Stadium. Other Sunday gossip includes Wigan making a £3.5million move for Marlon Harewood; Manchester City showing an interest in Paul Konchesky; Marseille considering a £1million offer for John Paintsil and West Ham and Newcastle United having a bitch-fight over £3 million FC Copenhagen midfielder Atiba Hutchinson. Finally, Rangers have taken a gamble on former West Ham and Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll. The thirsty Ulsterman was released by the Hammers at the end of last season and the 29-year-old becomes the seventh new arrival at Ibrox this summer.

Tevez Latest

Manchester United's bid to sign Carlos Tevez from West Ham is in danger of collapsing under the weight of legal action surrounding the controversial deal according to the latest diatribe in the Mail. The article claims the whole 'messy saga' could drag on for months as Kia Joorabchian contests West Ham's right to tear up the notorious agreement which gave his companies, Media Sports Investments and Just Sport Inc, the power to transfer Tevez at a time of their choosing with only £100,000 going to the club. The Premier League insist that West Ham must keep the market rate of any loan or transfer fee or they will be guilty of breaching the same rule on third-party interference which resulted in their record £5.5 million fine. That hardline stance puts the League in the legal firing line and could result in Premier League chiefs Richard Scudamore and Sir Dave Richards face having to defend the League's rules in court.

Joorabchian, of course, maintains that his "economic rights" over Tevez, as detailed in the third-party agreement, must be respected. He believes West Ham are now under undue pressure from the Premier League to oppose him for fear of receiving the points deduction many observers (especially Daily Mail journalists) thought they deserved for the original offence. When West Ham elected to terminate the third-party agreement they effectively agreed that the Premier League had the right to scrutinise all aspects of any future Tevez transfer before sanctioning a deal. In theory, Eggert Magnusson could agree a loan or transfer fee with United and then make a separate deal with Joorabchian to split the proceeds. But this would have to meet the League's demands that they keep the sort of sum a club might expect for a player of Tevez's reputation, who wants to move on only one year into a four-year deal. Joorabchian, who invested millions in taking Tevez from Boca Juniors to Brazilian club Corinthians, then to Europe, is highly unlikely to accept anything less than a handsome return.

If the affair does reach court, as some expect, it remains to be seen whether Manchester United will maintain their interest in Tevez. A United spokesman said last night: "We are satisfied we have the authority to speak to the player and are pleased to have concluded an agreement on personal terms. We wait to see how the matter is resolved by other parties." Whatever happens, Tevez will not be able to join Manchester United without the Premier League approving every aspect of the deal and a League spokesman reiterated last night: "We support West Ham in asserting their rights over the player."

The alternative to court action, suggest the Mail, would be an embarrassing Premier League U-turn which would again call into question whether Tevez should have been allowed to play in the final three games of West Ham's season. This would give Sheffield United fresh hope of overturning their relegation or at least being well compensated for it. The High Court will decide on Friday if the Yorkshire club have a case for a legal appeal against the decision of an arbitration panel not to order the Premier League to set up a new disciplinary commission to reconsider the West Ham case. The relegated Blades believe that any carve-up between Joorabchian and West Ham of the fee from Old Trafford for Tevez would show he was still under third-party influence when he played a crucial role in the three games which saved West Ham from relegation. Chairman Kevin McCabe said: "If I understand correctly, the deal [Tevez to Manchester United] would involve a type of loan over two years with something like £3million payable per year. Nobody can say, when you are talking about such a significant sum of money, that it isn't a transfer fee. It would go to show what we have believed all along if some of that money, or option payments, goes back to a third party — however it finds its way there. The arbitration did not refer the matter back but [the panel] did express concerns and sympathise with us. With the information we now possess, and the knowledge we had before the arbitration, we are just as determined to press ahead and that is what we will do on Friday."

Meanwhile, hermetically sealed Carlos Tevez is still insisting he knows nothing about a reported two-year loan move to Manchester United. The West Ham and Argentina forward, who is on international duty at the Copa America, said: "I don't know anything. I'm focused on the Copa America and don't want to think about anything else." I guess the plethora of Manchester United related quotes attributed to the player this past week could all have been unfortunately timed hypothetical statements; just as the medical he underwent a few days ago could have been misinterpreted as merely a genuine concern from all those at Manchester United for his general well-being. Take the piece that appears in The Sunday People for example, where Carlos Tevez reveals, for arguments sake, that if he had promised Sir Alex Ferguson he would join Manchester United then he would not go back on his word. "Through my backers I have given my word to Mr Fergusion," he is quoted as saying. "They have told him that I will be at Old Trafford next season and once I make a promise I will not go back on it. There is not a player who would turn down this opportunity and the negotiations are too far advanced to go back now. I have been open and honest with West Ham United every step of the way and I hope that the fans understand. It will be a emotional and special day whenever I return to play them. I had two very good offers from foreign clubs in January but I refused because I had unfinished business. It would have been easy to move on but I could not leave the fans in that predicament. My representatives sat down with West Ham at the end of the season and once it became clear they were not going to sign me they gave me permission to talk to other clubs so I am surprised that this is causing such a stink."

Over at the News of the World we find out that heartless West Ham have sensationally evicted Carlos Tevez from his London apartment, 'ridiculing' claims that we want him to stay at the club. David Harrison insists the club booted the 23 year old out of his Canary Wharf penthouse- taking away all his personal belongings and moving in their new French signing, Julien Faubert- four days before Eggert Magnusson revealed that the player remains under contract until 2010 and is expected back for pre-season training. The article states Tevez was in Venezuela at the time where he's playing in the Copa America tournament. A source revealed: "The first Carlos knew about it was when his agent out in South America suddenly got a phone call from West Ham announcing they were moving a new player into his flat that day. They even asked whether Carlos could arrange for someone to take his possessions away-even though he was in Venezuela playing in the Copa America! Carlos was devastated and even now has no idea where all his belongings are. He has lived in that flat ever since he arrived in London from Corinthians and has naturally bought lots of his own things since then." Aside from the fact that Tevez and his family departed for Argentina a day after the season ended and the flat was reportedly emptied at the same time, and with his full knowledge, the 'story' also fails to mention that the club-owned apartments are intended for short-term use while new recruits search for permanent accommodation. The fact that the Argentine striker finds himself homeless ten months after joining the club is not really an indication that the club no longer want him but more accurately a sign that the player had no intention of sticking around. Obviously, that doesn't make quite so good a story though.

Further comment about the Carlos Tevez situation: Shop-Soiled 'Academy' Deserves Hammering; Tevez Is Owned By One Man...

The Standoff

West Ham United appear set for a legal battle with Carlos Tevez's handlers after wildly conflicting accounts about the forward's future emerged last night. The Argentina international's representatives announced they had agreed personal terms with Manchester United, minutes after West Ham said they expected the player to return to Upton Park for pre-season training. This extraordinary act of brinkmanship came at the end of another day of frantic negotiations involving lawyers from West Ham, Manchester United, the Premier League and Kia Joorabchian, the player's agent and part owner. The Telegraph insist it is still almost certain a deal will eventually be struck which will allow Tevez to move to Old Trafford - he was said to be undergoing a medical yesterday - but the confusion and controversy which has clouded the player's short career in England is set to continue for some weeks yet.

Jason Burt, writing in The Independent, states Eggert Magnusson's sudden intervention was prompted by a warning from the Premier League who have threatened West Ham United with another inquiry if the club does not keep most of the £35million transfer fee Manchester United could eventually pay for Carlos Tevez. By asserting their "rights" to the striker the Hammers have now set themselves on an irrevocable collision course with Kia Joorabchian, the British-Iranian businessman who claims that he owns Tevez and has only loaned him. The claim ­ that Tevez is West Ham's player ­ will be disputed by Joorabchian and means the club face either a court battle with the entrepreneur or having to submit themselves to another Premier League disciplinary panel. To complicate matters further, argues Burt, it is unlikely that the panel could meet before the start of the season, with West Ham then facing the very real threat of points being deducted in the next campaign.

A Premier League source said last night that West Ham found themselves "between a rock and a hard place" and may well decide that facing Joorabchian in court ­ with the likelihood that they would lose the case and have to pay substantial compensation on top of the £5.5million fine already imposed upon them by the League's panel ­ is preferable to another inquiry. The Premier League are adamant they will not sanction Tevez's sale unless West Ham retain "a substantial part" of the transfer fee. By that they mean most of the £35million the champions could end up paying for the Argentine if he stays with them for the next five years. Neither will the Premier League allow West Ham to loan Tevez to United ­ unless they receive the loan fees, which could amount to more than £10million. However that, again, would be contested by Joorabchian.

Manchester United had hoped to announce last night that they had signed Tevez in a complicated arrangement which will see the 23-year-old move to Old Trafford on an initial two-year loan with a view to a permanent three-year deal being signed if United take up an option. The reported figures in this morning's press reveal Tevez will be paid £90,000-a-week by United, taking the overall cost of the deal to £60million. Speaking on the radio yesterday evening, Daily Mail sports editor Lee Clayton said the proposed Tevez deal was structured almost exactly in the same way to the one that allowed Javier Mascherano to move to Liverpool, in the belief that the precedent would force it through stringent Premier League scrutiny. The Independent claim that the reason the Premier League has hardened its own stance is that it says undertakings were given by West Ham on 27 April that Tevez was their player alone. That is why they will not cancel his registration and allow him to move for nothing to Manchester United. Therefore they do not accept that the terms of Tevez's proposed deal are the same as Mascherano's. Manchester United's solicitor Maurice Watkins was at Premier League headquarters yesterday morning to argue that the organisation did not have the right to say where transfer fees were paid.

Joorabchian insists that West Ham are not entitled to any of the money. He states that when Tevez arrived at Upton Park last summer it was on a one-year loan deal with an option to sign for three more years if West Ham paid a fee of £40million. Furthermore, three weeks' ago he received a letter from Magnusson ­ whose regime was not responsible for the original deal ­ stating that the club would not be taking up that option and, therefore, he could talk to other clubs. A Manchester United spokesman said yesterday: "Carlos Tevez was given permission to speak to us and do a deal." The Sun state although West Ham still hold his registration they do not have a contract of employment with him. A source close to Tevez, who is contracted to a consortium headed by businessman Kia Joorabchian, said: "West Ham might be able to get a small amount of compensation to pass on Tevez’s registration, but claims they can get millions are, quite frankly, laughable."

Although Joorabchian disputed West Ham's claims over the player last night, insisting that the club only had a one-year playing contract with a three-year option to renew, David Bond in The Telegraph says those terms might only apply to some of the side agreements ripped up in April. Those claims, he observes, appear to be at odds with the findings of the independent commission who fined West Ham £5.5 million for breaking third party rules. That judgment stated clearly that Tevez had a four-year playing contract with West Ham. Only once the truth of this tangled contractual web is established by a judge, suggests Bond, will United be able to negotiate a deal for Tevez to join them.

This is not a detail that seems to worry anybody over at The Mirror. They have largely glossed over the dispute with a story that reveals Tevez's burning ambition to play for Manchester United. The article states Tevez had offers from Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Liverpool but has chosen United because he says he is a huge admirer of Ferguson and his attacking style of play. Tevez said: "I only know Alex Ferguson from what I see from the outside but I believe he is a great manager and that I will be a good pupil for him. Manchester United is a team with a very offensive, attacking style of play. This is the system I always desire. Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world. I have spoken with him during the season and I admire him for being a star on the pitch and on the street."

Tevez also admits he has spoken to Juan Sebastian Veron about Manchester United and about how difficult it is for the team and for the players to triumph because of all the pressure put on them. "There is almost an obligation to win every game when you are at Manchester United," he said. "Nothing else is acceptable. That is very difficult for most players to live with but believe me when I say that those sort of challenges are attractive to me. I enjoy that pressure. It makes me fight harder. I have demonstrated many things in South America already in clubs like Boca Juniors and Corinthians where the expectation is so great from the fans. I have been successful and done well under that sort of pressure and now I want to repeat the experience in England. I think I have already shown some of that with West Ham. I loved that experience and it was always going to be a special club to make me leave there. But a club like Manchester United is one of football's superclubs."

Hammers Throw A Spanner

The proposed transfer of Carlos Tevez descended into farce this evening when the player agreed terms on a £60million deal with Manchester United and then was told he is expected to return to pre-season training with West Ham. Earlier in the day the Daily Mail released full details of the deal that could see Tevez join United on an initial £6million two-year loan. If Manchester United then exercise a three-year buy-out option it will cost them a further £35million, and they will then own the player outright. Tevez's wages have been agreed for five years — and United will pay him just under £100,000 a week. Crucially, all transfer monies will be paid directly to owner Kia Joorabchian. The article also states that the Premier League are determined not to sanction the transfer unless West Ham are seen to be exercising their rights as the player's employers, and Hammers tonight refused to play ball with United, demanding that the Old Trafford board negotiate directly for the player.

In a statement on the official site, Eggert Magnusson said: "Carlos Tevez is a registered West Ham player, contracted to the club until June 2010. There is no agreement with West Ham for Carlos Tevez to leave the club and we expect him to return in time for next season's preparations. No decision on his future can be reached without the agreement of West Ham." An hour or so later and Tevez's representatives reiterated that the West Ham United striker had agreed personal terms with Premier League champions Manchester United. Lawyers acting for agent Kia Joorabchian said: "We confirm that Carlos Tevez has, with the knowledge and permission of West Ham United Football Club, been in discussions with other clubs. Subsequently, personal terms have now been agreed with Manchester United Football Club."

The Mail quote 'sources close to the biggest transfer of the summer' who believe West Ham's stance to be a tactic designed to ensure that they receive a cut of the transfer fee and, at the same time, avoid accusations from the Premier League that their declaration of outright ownership of Tevez back in April was false. The same source claims Manchester United are still optimistic that the deal will go through at the start of next week even though officials are privately conceding that they now have a battle on their hands.

For Whom The Bell Tolls

West Ham United were last night close to winning the race to sign Liverpool's Craig Bellamy. Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa have been linked with the striker but it is West Ham who look set to become his fifth club in two years after Rafael Benítez sanctioned his sale. The Guardian believe Liverpool value Bellamy at £9million, £3million more than they paid Blackburn for his services last year, while West Ham rate him in the £6million bracket. It is claimed that the clubs are now working on a compromise which may involve Yossi Benayoun moving in the opposite direction. According to John Ley in The Telegraph, West Ham's talks with the Wales striker have reached an advanced stage. He writes that if an agreement can be found, Bellamy will effectively fill the void left by the probable departure of Carlos Tevez to Manchester United.

The Times think Alan Curbishley identified Bellamy as one of his principal targets after losing out to Tottenham Hotspur in the pursuit of Darren Bent, and the impending sale of Carlos Tévez to Manchester United has only strengthened his desire to bring the Wales forward to Upton Park. They suggest Bellamy, 27, is reluctant to leave Anfield but has been told that he has no future there after the arrivals of Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin from Atlético Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen respectively. Having originally wanted double the £6million they paid for the player, James Ducker insists Benitez will now settle for £10million. That will still be too much for the Hammers, suggest The Sun, who are willing to cover the player's £50,000-a-week wages but refuse to match Bellamy’s price-tag.

Alan Nixon at the Mirror claims the two clubs have agreed a £9million fee and that West Ham will give the Welsh firebrand a stunning £4million-a-year contract. He states Bellamy has opted to join Eggert Magnusson's Upton Park revolution after Liverpool showed him the door and let him go for signing talks yesterday. Bellamy, it is suggested, will receive a four-year deal worth around £16million, making the whole packing worth a staggering £25million. It goes without saying that these figures should not be taken too seriously. The Independent insist Bellamy's move would be a straight cash deal by West Ham and could proceed today, although they do not believe the two clubs have yet reached agreement on the fee. Liverpool exploited a get-out clause in the 27-year-old's Blackburn contract last summer that allowed him to join a Champions League club for £6million but, with Benitez needing to sell in order to finance his outstanding targets, they are seeking a substantial profit on a player who did not secure a regular starting role.

In a new twist, the paper also claims West Ham are pursuing a deal for Djibril Cissé. They report that West Ham have touted an exchange deal for the Gallic striker with Yossi Benayoun, the Israel midfielder who has already been the subject of Liverpool bids of £2million and £4million. The swap, however, rests on the France international's willingness to move to London - Benayoun is anxious to join Liverpool - and the forward has so far refused to countenance any club other than Marseille, where he spent last season on loan, but who are unable to meet Rafael Benitez's £6million valuation. Interestingly, West Ham were fleetingly linked with Cisse last week but at the time were reportedly 'snubbed' by the player's representatives, who failed to respond to Eggert Magnusson's enquiries. A few days later, presumingly when the player's move to Marseille stalled, there were conciliatory statements released to the press suggesting that the lack of acknowledgement had all been a big misunderstanding brought on by constraints of time.

Tevez Turmoil

Carlos Tévez is expected to complete his transfer to Manchester United in the next 24 hours according to the Times. The Argentina forward will join the Barclays Premier League champions on an initial two-year loan, at the end of which United will have the chance to buy the player permanently for a fee that could be more than £20 million. The deal is complicated because West Ham United do not own Tévez outright, but it is thought that Eggert Magnusson has agreed to hand over the player’s registration rights to United so that the transfer can be sanctioned by the Premier League. In turn, United will pay two annual fees of about £3 million to Kia Joorabchian, the businessman whose Media Sports Investments (MSI) firm owns the economic rights to Tévez. The article says it is still unclear whether West Ham would receive any payment from United after a spokesman for the Premier League said last night: "As far as the Premier League is concerned, any potential deal for Carlos Tévez must be struck directly with West Ham United."

The Mirror believe West Ham will have to be adequately compensated if they are to relinquish the rights to the player, while the Daily Mail insist West Ham will agree to take a cut of the fee in what will be one of the most closely scrutinized transfers in Premier league history. Speaking from the Copa America in Venezuela, Tevez said: "I am a player who thrives on challenges. I went to England to triumph in the Premiership and with West Ham I have achieved the first stage. Now I'm ready to move on to the next stage. I remember with emotion the last match with West Ham at Old Trafford. I scored and the response of the people was amazing. To be there as a member of United would be spectacular. I've had options in Italy but they were difficult."

While it is now clear what Tevez's intentions are, The Independent believe the transfer could lead to a round of legal action, with West Ham United fearing they will be urged by the Premier League to clarify Tevez's registration and ownership by taking Kia Joorabchian to court. In the light of the highly-sensitive inquiry into Tevez's transfer to Upton Park, West Ham would clearly not want to take that step. Jason Burt, known to have good connections at West Ham, writes that there are real concerns at the club as to exactly how they can now extricate themselves from the saga without hurt being caused, especially as Joorabchian could present potentially damaging evidence against them in court. The Guardian claim the Premier League's intervention could even scupper the transfer, which would leave West Ham and Tevez's agents on a legal collision course.

After the disciplinary commission, West Ham had the choice of renegotiating terms with the player's handlers, who are led by Kia Joorabchian, in a deal akin to that which took Javier Mascherano to Liverpool in January. But that would have been a potentially complex discussion and Tevez was needed in a relegation fixture at Wigan the next day. The most expedient route was to rip up the third-party agreement that connected them to MSI and JSI, but that meant West Ham were effectively taking a £20m-plus-rated player as their own, despite never having paid a transfer fee. West Ham are now bound by the terms of their undertakings in response to a letter sent to them by the Premier League on May 4. According to the transcript of the arbitration proceedings concluded on Tuesday, they agreed "to contend that the Tevez Agreement was invalid and unenforceable and, from the club's perspective, terminated, and the club would not perform in accordance with it". This was interpreted by the Premier League as a commitment to treat any transfer of Tevez as being from West Ham and as having no consideration for the perceived rights of MSI and JSI. On that basis alone was Tevez permitted to continue playing for West Ham, scoring the goals that saved them from relegation.

MSI and JSI have refused to recognise West Ham's decision and instead prepared a path for the player to Old Trafford. The player's handlers insist the old agreements are still enforceable and that they entitled West Ham only to a one-year loan for Tevez. They claim any attempts to prevent his move to Old Trafford will be an actionable restraint of trade. The Guardian claim the only way West Ham and the companies Joorabchian represents may now avoid the courts is if a negotiated settlement can be reached. The Premier League will permit the club to share a transfer fee with MSI and JSI but West Ham would have to secure a fair market rate for themselves before forwarding any surplus. But with Manchester United's directors seeking to pay only £6million to take Tevez on a two- season loan with a future option to make the deal permanent, that looks unlikely.

Reo-Coker Departs

Aston Villa have completed the signing of Nigel Reo-Coker from West Ham. The two clubs agreed a fee - believed to be around £8.5m - and the England Under-21 international passed a medical and agreed personal terms this evening, before being unveiled by his new manager at a press conference. Reo-Coker made 142 league and cup appearances for the Hammers and is looking forward to a "fresh start" after a tough season at Upton Park. Amusingly, The Guardian claim the player was "liberated" from the East End by Martin O'Neill, which is true in the same way that a dustman liberates the rubbish sacks from your driveway.

"Football is my occupation and I love the game but I don't build myself up to be something I'm not. All I want to do is be successful," said Reo-Coker. "I'm not a superstar or a miracle worker. I'm a hard-working person and I give 100% in every game I play. The reason I joined this club is their aspiration to play in Europe. Martin O'Neill has told me what he is aiming to do and I believe we can achieve it. I enjoyed every minute of my time at West Ham but this is a new chapter, a new beginning for me. I'm hoping there will be a lot of success here."

Some supporters and critics turned on Reo-Coker and blamed the club captain for the slump in form as they spent much of the campaign in the bottom three before narrowly avoiding relegation. "It was an experience which has hardened me but I don't think it was an experience anyone should be forced to go through, like I was, at the age of 22," he added. "But it has made me a stronger character and I will now channel that in the right way. If people want to see me as obnoxious or bitter about what went on then that's their prerogative but my honest opinion was that I was hung out to dry. I do not know how West Ham fans will treat me when I go back to play there but whatever anybody says about me I know I have always given 110% for whichever club I've played for."

The Hyperbolic Squall

Nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before...

Another day and another round of salacious Tevez transfer speculation. A definitive sounding report in the contumacious Mail, with a headline that screamed: "Fergie Signs Tevez", kicked off proceedings with the claim that the player last night agreed to join Manchester United in a permanent deal worth more than £20million. The move will be completed next week, insists the paper, but is subject to any challenge from West Ham, who still claim to own the registration of the player who 'saved them from relegation last season'. The Mail believe West Ham have no actual contract with Tevez and his owner, businessman Kia Joorabchian, and this has left the player and his representative free to negotiate a transfer with other clubs. This, of course, is in direct contradiction to the statement Eggert Magnusson made on Tuesday when he reiterated that Carlos Tevez is a registered West Ham United player with a playing contract that still has three years remaining on it. The article quotes a source close to the Argentina camp as saying: "He [Tevez] just cannot contain his excitement at the news. Tevez has been concerned about his future, worried about where he may play next season and now he is joining the biggest club in the world! This is massive news."

The media frenzy sparked by the Daily Mail story soon engulfed the rest of the written press. The Times wrote that Manchester United last night appeared to have won the race to sign Carlos Tévez and that the player has told his Argentina teammates that a deal has been agreed for him to play at Old Trafford next season. They disagree on the details of the transfer though and suggest it is likely to be an initial 12-month loan deal, with a fee of about £4 million payable to Kia Joorabchian and wages in excess of £3 million. Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, would also want the option of making the move permanent at the end of next season. They believe a permanent deal would cost in the region of £35 million. Paul Doyle, writing in the Guardian, also 'understands' that Tevez's representatives are finalising the details of his departure from West Ham, with whom it is thought he is contracted until 2010. In this story, the fee is believed to be around £20m, though neither Manchester United nor West Ham would confirm that talks are in progress. The Telegraph have rehashed the original Mail story but have omitted the section about West Ham not having a contract with the player, and have also adjusted the fee to being "just under" £20 million.

Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for the BBC to jump on the runaway wagon. Sports editor Mihir Bose is another who "understands" that Tevez will join Manchester United, but he is unwilling to reveal whether it will be a loan or permanent transfer. "I understand talks have been going on for several weeks now," added Bose. "Manchester United are certainly very keen on Carlos Tevez but they are very complicated talks because of the nature of the loan arrangement he has at West Ham. What is going on is whether he goes on a permanent move, which would involve a very high fee. Certainly, Tevez's people would want in the region of what Zinedine Zidane went for when he moved to Real Madrid - about £40m. Or he could go on the same arrangement his colleague Javier Mascherano went to Liverpool under when he left West Ham. That was a two-year deal and a sort of extended loan for a much lower fee."

Meanwhile, the people over at Sky Sports say the Premier League will block Carlos Tevez's proposed move to Manchester United if they are not satisfied the transfer fee will go to West Ham. West Ham claim they own the registration of Tevez after the league accepted in April that the club had terminated all agreements with the player's agent Kia Joorabchian. The Premier League are planning to keep an eye on any transfer for Tevez to ensure that West Ham keep their promise of owning his registration. A Premier League spokesman said: "As far as we are concerned any deal to take Carlos Tevez away from West Ham has to be done directly with the club."

In a further twist, the Mail claim Carlos Tevez's adviser is ready to hand "potentially explosive" documents to the High Court that could drag West Ham back into the row with Sheffield United and increase the pressure on senior Premier League officials. A source close to Kia Joorabchian described the documents as evidence that could "hit the Premier League like a mallet and take West Ham down", and added: "Kia is quite prepared to hand them over." It is understood the documents concern the period that followed the original hearing, when Tevez was allowed to play the final three games of the season for West Ham on the understanding that the player's third-party agreement had been terminated. This could be seen as a thinly veiled threat from Joorabchian aimed at ensuring West Ham do not contest any proposed transfer of Tevez. What is clear is that the timing could hardly be more propitious for Sheffield United as they seek to take their case to the High Court. Last night McCabe said: "We believe there are further documents that have not yet been disclosed that could have a bearing on this case. We need to find out, initially, if a judge will hear our case. If we are informed we can appeal in a civil court, we will be able to request those documents."

The BBC confirm that Sheffield United will appeal to the High Court over the Carlos Tevez affair and their Premiership relegation. "We are going to the High Court to appeal, and that date is 13 July," confirmed Blades chairman Kevin McCabe. "I still believe Sheffield United have a legal case that can now be taken from what I loosely term the sporting courts to the commercial courts. Where that will take us I really don't know." The Blades are set to claim the arbitration panel made an "error in law" by not ordering a new disciplinary commission to deal with the affair. While McCabe has accepted the club will not be reinstated to the Premier League he is looking for up to £50m in compensation. "I think anyone who looks at it and says one club has been wronged then the only recourse to make that wrong right is financial," he added. "If you say that the Championship play-off game is worth £60m and Sheffield United's attendance last year was 31,000, with full hospitality boxes and restaurants and broadcasting income, you would say compensation is around £50m." The Guardian state that Sheffieled United, mindful that their application to lodge an appeal could be rejected, had hoped to keep their latest move quiet but the Premier League announced yesterday that the Bramall Lane club were taking further action. A Premier League spokesman said: "Our legal team inform us that this is a very narrow window of appeal where Sheffield United are claiming that the arbitration panel under Sir Philip Otton made an error in law by failing to send back the original decision to the independent disciplinary commission for reconsideration."

So what was Carlos Tevez doing as the hyperbolic squall swept through the British media? He was speaking to Argentinian newspaper Clarin at his Copa America base. "As far as I am aware I have not received any official offers," he stated. "But the fact that Real Madrid, Inter and Manchester United are interested in me makes me feel proud. If I have to stay at West Ham, it would be fine. I am happy there and people love me very much." The striker then reiterated that he would consider his options once the Copa America tournament is over; "Right now my focus is here. Once this is over we shall see."

Carlitos' Way

The following is the "incredible rags to riches story of the East End's favourite Argentinian prodigy". It comes from the latest issue of a top-selling football magazine and isn't available anywhere online as far as I know. I'll try and keep it here until such time that somebody in an expensive suit tells me to take it down.

Carlitos' Way- His season began and ended in a blaze of publicity and controversy. But in between, Carlos Tevez proved why he's one of football's hottest properties.
Marcela Mora y Araujo

When Carlos Tevez signed for West Ham United at the 11th hour of the transfer deadline in August 2006, we knew we were in for some story...

Up until that minute rumours were rife that the small Argentinian forward would join a Premiership club, but the names touted were the big four- apt stages for an international who had stunned the world with his flair during the World Cup. Stocky and bull-like, with the sort of skills and ball control the world has come to associate with Argentina, Tevez had been a regular in his national team's famous youth squad, picking up World trophies and Olympic medals alike. He spent a season with Brazilian club Corinthians, where in spite of an abrupt and antagonistic departure he became an idol and won the domestic league. During the World Cup in 2006, Argentina were knocked out by Germany- but for lovers of 'beautiful' football, they were the team who displayed the most breathtaking technique. And Tevez shone. Arguably even against Germany, he demonstrated an ability to both showboat and play with efficiency, displaying individual flair and assisting the team- and to charge with rhythm and play until the 90th minute with the same stamina as the first.

In a restaurant in Hamburg after the match against Holland, a cluster of international football agents were dining. "Tevez will join the Premiership next season," they were tipping reporters, "but only for $100 million." So when West Ham unveiled their new signing- part of a double coup along with fellow Argentinian, midfielder Javier Mascherano, also from Corinthians- with the proviso that an undisclosed deal had secured both top internationals for a very modest fee, speculation started in earnest about what might be going on behind the scenes.

Argentina's squad was in London at the time, for a friendly against Brazil. The jaw-dropping transfer was announced to the press in an East End hotel. Tevez sank low into a deep leather armchair and joked about how the only thing he knew about West Ham was that the club's insignia consisted of two little hammers. Someone asked him if he a shirt yet. He didn't, so someone else made a point of seeking a blue and claret strip, returned with it already bearing the number 32, and Tevez hugged them with joy. Why 32? "Michael Jordan. I've always loved him and the 23 or 32 evoke him for me," he said. Just like David Beckham someone ventured. It was obvious from the reaction around us that this wasn't taken as a compliment. The preferred analogy on the day was that of Diego Maradona's joining Napoli; a small, forgotten club with a long tradition of football-loving supporters who loyally stuck by them through times of trouble; a club with a history. A club in need of a number 10 groomed in the vacant lots of Buenos Aires's poorer quarters.

In the beginning, West Ham fans rejoiced and Alan Pardew, then manager, spoke candidly about his delight and his reluctance to question the hand that fed him. The deal, confused and confusing, was incomprehensible from a business perspective. But Pardew was providing soundbites about how brilliant it was to have "world-class players" and all seemed set to roll along smoothly for West Ham, who were emerging from a spectacular season, to continue enjoying lashings of glory.The remains of the summer were still just perceptible at the training ground in those days, with early-morning Friday press conferences in the sunshine and Tevez bouncing about trying to find his feet in his new home. During training, Pardew's voice could be heard commending him as the newcomer dribbled his way across the fields of Chadwell Heath. There was something so quintessentially English about the surroundings, the gates into the training ground, the neat rows of cars, the timetables and contempt for Argentinian improvisation among the press. But the players kept high spirits and showed enthusiasm for their new life. "We want to be here for a long time," they said.

As the clocks changed and winter set in, it was more than skies that darkened. Pardew didn't seem able to find a way to accommodate his "world-class players", and both often found themselves on the bench. The drizzle and the cold came in hand in hand with a run of bad results. Increasingly, observers questioned what these two Argentinians were doing at West Ham. Alfio Basile, appointed manager of Argentina's squad, told a press conference that he watched them "and they worried him". Basile's comments were based on tactics and football styles. In particular, he expressed concern about Mascherano, a typical number five in the Argentinian sense of the word, not being exploited to capacity. "I like Mascherano as a double five," Basile had said, using a phrase that refers to the South American tactic of playing two holding midfielders one in front of the other. Obviously it wasn't simply a matter of numbers and translations hampering the Argentinian's fortunes. But perhaps there was an untranslatable quality to the way they play, the vocabulary they use to define and describe it, the codes on and off the pitch.

Another example is the word gambeta, as used in Argentina. Gambeta can be described as the combination of dribbles and feints used by the most dazzling players, but it is actually much more. In a sense, it is the aim and purpose of the kid who plays for fun. When asked to define it in English, former Real Madrid sporting director Jorge Valdano said: "It's like a tango- only different." Carlos tevez, on the other hand, is more to the point, his language lacking such frills: "It's getting a guy off your back while keeping the ball at your feet," he once told me. Such a prosaic definition does Tevez no justice, though. What he can do when he gets hold of the ball is more akin, as the Argentinian rock song The Dance of the Gambeta goes, to the rather more poetic "dribbling fate". As Basile had said, Tevez can play all over the pitch (but not on the left). Rather than a straightforward striker, he is more of an Argentininan number 10- a link, a thinker, a playmaker. But he has the speed and strength of the young Ronaldo (the Brazilian) as well as the precision and efficiency of the unfussy pragmatist. Ciaran Simpson, who worked with him at West Ham as his translator, said: "If he loses the ball in a trick, he will run 120 metres to recover it." His skills are unparalleled, and although rarely displayed gratuitously, are full of the charm and attention to detail so often associated with the street children of South America.

Carlos Tevez was raised in Fuerte Apache, an astonishingly poor area of Buenos Aires afflicted with a huge crime rate. Tevez has been frank about the difficult childhood he had there, and has been quoted saying that despite the fact that they didn't have enough to eat, he feels proud of the place where he was born and raised. In his case, however, the harsh realities of Fuerte Apache didn't quash the dream. He was very good at football and his talent was spotted early on. He would play with much older kids for the fun of it- even when they played for money. He was signed by Boca in 1997, and the hunger that drove him in the informal kickarounds never left him. Under the tutelage of Ruben Madonni at club level and Jose Peckerman at international level, by 1999 he was representing Argentina at Wembley.

It was a three-way under-16 friendly tournament between England, France and Argentina. Argentina sent a squad of 14-year-olds because Jose Peckerman and Hugo Tocalli, the head of youth development, felt it would be a good introduction for them: how to behave in a hotel, how things work in other countries, a taste of the facilities at a training ground... Most of those boys had never even been on a plane before; many had never set foot outside Argentina. Tocalli let me travel to Wembley in the coach with the kids, and then sit on the bench. As the coach drove into what was then the world's football cathedral, one of the boys stood with his mouth wide open: "What the fuck are we doing here!?" he gasped. They took on their English opponents- a couple of years older and several inches taller- nervously but bravely. Before the game, we had asked Tocalli which one of them we should look out for in years to come. Was there one who would definitely make it? Without hesitation he pointed to a small, stocky, cheeky clown joking about with a ball. A boy with a noticeable scar running along the side of his face, all the way down his neck and torso: Carlos Tevez. Tevez scored at Wembley. "That was my first goal in the Argentina strip," he says, his eyes full of delight at the memory.

On June 5, he scored again in an Argentina friendly, this time a confident header from a pass by Messi; this time one of the most established names in the squad, one of the most experienced members of the team, and one of the few dead certs for this year's Copa America squad. But on the pitch he does not look any different from back then.

Tevez's debut for Boca's first team came a few years later, and he quickly became the club's idol. Following in the footsteps of Maradona and Riquelme, both of whom befriended and supported him- and shared his experience of an extremely deprived childhood- Tevez embodied the typical tale of the boy from the neighbourhood for whom football becomes the meal ticket out of the slum. He gave everything, playing every game as if it really mattered. He still does. He became a celebrity quickly too; a controversial one. Media interest in his private life became intrusive, the paparazzi never left his side, and by the time Boca sold him to Brazilian club Corinthians, he expressed relief at the distance he would gain from Argentina's national press. In Brazil, he said, they were more interested in what he did on the pitch than off it. But by the time he left Corinthians, controversy had caught up with him again. Appearing at a press conference wearing a Manchester United strip, a physical fracas with opposing fans, and a heated exchange with the manager all contributed to his departure being a little rushed. Some even described it as a flight. Nevertheless, his potent play had by then helped the club win the league. And for this, Tevez became an hero to the fans.

The murky world of international transfers is never clear at the best of times. In South America, where clubs are more often broke than not, and therefore unable to afford top players, it's common for third parties to become involved in the financing of players. So, trust funds are set up, where investors contribute to the purchase of players in the hope of recouping their money with subsequent sales. Sometimes, instead of trust funds, individuals finance the players. Particularly in Argentina, where private ownership of clubs is prohibited by law and many aspects of club management are contracted out to third parties, what is commonly described a s 'player ownership' is not uncommon. Mauricio Macri, chairman of Boca Juniors, sold Tevez to Corinthians. He said it was a straightforward transaction in which he insisted the full amount be paid up front. Corinthians were by then under the management of MSI, an international company fronted by an Iranian, Kia Joorabachian. Joorabachian had also expressed an interest in buying West Ham, and a serious offer was under consideration when he moved Tevez and Mascherano to the East End. The idea was to build a team around them, and the fact that the 'sale' had not been for as much as was touted during the summer was not a problem so long as the long-term vision worked.

Enter Eggert Magnusson, an Icelandic football man and businessman. "I've been following football for 50 years," he told journalists in his first briefing after he took over the club. Because Magnusson's consortium bought West Ham, quite suddenly, having outbid Joorabachian. One of the first things Magnusson said when he arrived at Upton Park, was that he was unhappy with the contracts for the two Argentinians; this notion of them being owned and loaned, or partly owned, by a consortium. "Would he have entered the agreement?" someone asked. "No." It's still unclear what the terms of this agreement are, and the affair has had an additional spanner thrown into its works by the FA's decision to fine West Ham for breach of rules. The FA does not allow third-party ownership of, or third-parties to benefit from the sale of players. Deals must be club to club. This complicates many South American transfers, where the 'selling' club is not always the outright 'owner' of the player. In the UK, however, the situation is somewhat stricter: a player must be registered with a federation, that registration must be lodged with a club, and that club in turn must have some sort of contractual agreement with the player.

Tevez's tale took another twist and turn when Pardew was sacked and replaced by Alan Curbishley. With Curbishley's arrival, the entire story shifted. At his first press conference, before he had even met any of the players, Curbishley was asked about the Argentinians. He said as far as he was concerned, this was a new start; a clean slate: "They've got to force their way into the side." He was unsure if West Ham's misfortunes were simply a case of lack of confidence leading to lack of results or bad results leading to a lack of confidence. "I don't know what comes first, but I do know either way we've got to get both back in here," he announced. By now, Mascherano was fast losing his way: playing with the reserves, he was distinctly unsettled. Tevez would get off the bench more, although he rarely started. He was also becoming puzzled by a series of quotes in the tabloids that he insisted he never gave. Tracking the source proved futile- everywhere his unkind remarks appeared they were quoted as stemming from somewhere else. He became even less trusting of the media.

"There's something going on here that goes beyond football," Mascherano told me cryptically in the New Year. Both he and Tevez agreed that all they could do was get on the pitch and play. Play better. But keep at it. Mascherano moved to Liverpool during the January transfer window, and so Tevezwas left alone in the East End. Football has helped him and his family raise their standard of living- and a as a result, Tevez has a huge respect for the game. So on the pitch, however adverse the conditions, he never stopped trying. He was unlucky, though, and couldn't find the goal. Curbishley was apparently surprised by the stats that showed Tevez hadn't scored at all. But although he wasn't scoring, Tevez's workrate never diminished. He would delight supporters with his skills, but if he lost the ball, he would sprint with all his energy to recover it. West Ham fans became very appreciative of this, and started chanting his name. He recently told Argentinian reporters that he would sit on the bench hearing the crowd calling his name and wanted to stand up and say "I'm here. Look: I am Carlos Tevez."

The end of the season approached with the club actually facing relegation. Even though Tevez's luck turned, and he started scoring, the club's fortunes didn't look so good. But the worse the prognosis, the more driven Tevez became. "Fighting relegation doesn't make you less of a player," he said when someone asked him if he felt worthy of a more successful stage. Those close to him say he really wanted to stay at West Ham; wanted to help the club; wanted to "dribble its fate". The final game of the season, against Manchester United at old Trafford, provided Tevez with the perfect setting for a perfect goal. He used all the tricks he had perfected on the streets of the slums- chest, dummy, flick, one-two, side-kick (or as the Argentineans say, "pechito... amague... pared... gambeta... sombrerito... chanfle"), and netted the ball for the only goal of the game- so hauling the club away from the precipice of relegation.

"Avoiding relegation was absolutely amazing for us," he tells me. For all the analysis his West Ham performances had elicited, Carlitos remains matter of fact when asked what prompted his reversal of fortunes in front of goal. "Nothing," he said. "I've done nothing different. Earlier in the season, I was missing the goal. But lately, the ball's been going in." Football can withstand the most detailed scrutiny, the most passionate tactical debates, the harshest and most extreme ideologies as to what works and what doesn't. But its magic is that it all boils down to whether or not the ball goes in. And there's no formula. The best of the best are those players whose passion and devotion to the ball remain constant no matter what the circumstances. Those players who enjoy playing the game so much that they pass on their enjoyment to those who watch. Those players who can combine raw talent with hard work and excel as athletes, yet always remind us of a child at play.

The way Carlitos Tevez does.

Taken from FourFourTwo magazine

The Point Of Law

I said there is no justice
As they led me out of the door
And the judge said, "This isn't a court of justice son
This is a court of law"

Having spent the past seven weeks and the best part of half a million pounds 'on their fight for justice', Sheffield United discovered yesterday that unremittingly sensationalist media coverage, emotive and ill-informed public statements, mud-slinging, posturing and half-hearted marches on parliament don't amount to a hill of beans when it comes to a point of law.

In a 36-page ruling on the decision taken in April to fine West Ham £5.5million rather than dock them points over the "deceitful" way the club handled the signings of Argentine pair Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, the Premier League's arbitration panel agreed with some of the Yorkshire club's arguments. "We have much sympathy for Sheffield United's grievances arising from the decision and the manner it was arrived at," said panel chairman Sir Philip Otton in his judgement yesterday. "We would go so far as to say that this tribunal would in all probability have reached a different conclusion and deducted points from West Ham. We would, for example, have given much more weight to the deliberate deceit by West Ham officials which concealed the existence of third-party arrangements. However, these considerations are not sufficient. The tribunal has to test the decision on whether it was irrational or perverse when it was reached. This is very difficult to satisfy on a question very much of judgement and discretion."

Writing in The Telegraph, David Bond stated that it was 'exactly the sort of judgement relegated Sheffield United will have been dreading'. It was in essence a refutation of their claim, yet not one unequivocal enough as to deter further legal action. Bond believes the arbitration panel's decision was all the more frustrating for its acceptance that the termination of the side agreements with the mysterious offshore companies who own Tevez were still in doubt. While West Ham say they have unilaterally terminated them, Tevez's agent and part-owner Kia Joorabchian has not acknowledged that and is keeping his options open. The most likely outcome, insists Bond, is that he will use the termination to get more money out of West Ham or secure a bigger move for the striker. "It is obvious that the possibility of the third parties' ability materially to influence was not entirely excluded. Indeed it may still exist," said the ruling. But it later adds: "In short, the arrangement may not have been legally watertight but it was a practical and workable solution to a difficult situation."

The Times insist Sheffield United are now considering taking their fight to the High Court to force Kia Joorabchian to hand over paperwork relating to the transfer of Carlos Tévez to West Ham United. They believe the businessman, who owns the economic rights to the Argentina forward, has documents that could have important ramifications for the Yorkshire club’s hopes of challenging the decision not to deduct points from West Ham for breaching Premier League rules. The paperwork has never been seen by the Premier League. Sheffield United are also considering whether the panel’s misgivings may imply that the original Premier League commission that met in April, placed excessive weight on inappropriate reasons, such as taking fans into account and not docking points because it would have consigned West Ham to certain relegation. Sheffield United believe that if that were the case, they could overturn the decision in a separate case against the Premier League’s decision in the High Court.

An article in The Independent claims Blades chairman Kevin McCabe would be ill-advised against taking their fight for Premier League reinstatement to the courts. Respected litigation lawyer David Sheahan believes the three-man panel acted correctly and a judge would reach the same conclusion. "There are a number of avenues open to Sheffield United but wherever they turn I believe they will be faced with the same conclusion," said Sheahan. "They could go to court but from the reasoning I have seen I think they would struggle there. The courts don't want to get involved in issues like this. You still have the fundamental principle that what the independent commission did [in deciding not to dock West Ham points] was not wrong. Everyone else may have done something different but it was a reasonable conclusion. There had been no precedent. The tribunal panel was effectively made up of people who would be judges. As far as I am aware they used the same sort of test as a judicial review and that is the conclusion they have still reached."

The Sun, in their usual restrained manner, insist Sheffield United are now threatening to throw the new season into chaos by taking the case to the European courts. They insist it could lead to fixture chaos, suspension of all English clubs in Europe and even threaten the England team's participation in Euro 2008. Rent-a-quote sports lawyer Mel Goldberg believes the Hammers have been let off the hook. He said: "Do I think it’s the right decision? No. It’s clear to most people that the injured party has not received justice. Not only that, there is a precedent here when Middlesbrough were docked points for not adhering to the rules on fulfilling a fixture. The fact is that the Premier League has admitted — as have West Ham — that West Ham fielded players whose registration was partly owned by a third party. The rules were broken and everyone in the world knew it." But Goldberg warned Blades not to go to court looking for 'justice'. He said: "Premier League rules state all clubs who sign up must abide by decisions, including disciplinary commissions."

'Honest' Dave Whelan's mouthpiece are making fresh calls for the resignations of Premier League chiefs Richard Scudamore and Sir Dave Richards. An entirely predictable article quotes the Wigan chairman as saying: "Justice has not been done. It's been a botched affair. All kinds of things have been done incorrectly and, from what I can tell, covered up. And so much time has been wasted getting to this point. Why, when they knew about this shortly after Christmas, did it take until the end of April to have the original hearing? And why is it only now, in July, that we have reached this stage? I'm sure nothing can now be done for Sheffield United and that is very sad. It just isn't right. What the arbitration panel are saying backs up everything Wigan, Sheffield United, Fulham, Charlton and Middlesbrough have been saying all along, and if the arbitration panel think it's wrong, then Richard Scudamore and Dave Richards have seriously got to consider their positions."

Verdict Delivered

The arbitration panel examining the decision to fine West Ham United for breaching Premier League rules have upheld the original verdict. Sheffield United had wanted the panel to order a new disciplinary commission to deal with West Ham but had their claim dismissed today. The club also lost another claim - made jointly with Fulham - that the Premier League should have forced West Ham to de-register Tevez. A statement from the arbitration panel read: "The tribunal have found in favour of the FA Premier League on both issues and dismissed the claims of Sheffield United FC and Fulham FC."

The ruling from the arbitration panel said Sheffield United would not normally have been allowed to dispute another club's punishment but that there were "exceptional circumstances" due to their relegation and therefore affected their membership of the Premier League. The tribunal said they had "sympathy" with the Blades, while West Ham had been "deliberately deceitful" and yet remained in the Premier League. They could not, however, rule that the independent commission's decision had been wrong. The panel's ruling states: "Ian Mill QC [representing Sheffield United] mounted a strong attack on the legality of the decision and the tribunal had much sympathy for Sheffield United's grievances. However the tribunal had to apply the principles of judicial review and determine whether the decision was irrational or perverse. This is a very strict test and is very difficult to satisfy. It concluded that it was impossible for this tribunal to find that the decision was irrational or perverse."

In relation to Sheffield United's and Fulham's claim that the Premier League should have immediately terminated Tevez's registration, the tribunal ruled that they had acted reasonably in allowing the Argentina striker to continue to play for the last three games of the season. The ruling says: "The offending third-party agreements still existed and the FAPL endeavoured to seek assurances from West Ham that they were no longer valid and effective. These were sought on April 27 and again on May 4. As a result of the assurances given the FAPL permitted the registration to stand. The tribunal concluded it was not unreasonable for the FAPL board to reach that conclusion in the light of the assurances given that the third parties were not able 'materially to influence the West Ham's policies or the performance of the team'. The arrangement may not have been legally watertight but was a practical and workable solution to a difficult situation. It is to be doubted that the FAPL (or anyone else) foresaw the spectacular results of the last three matches which saved West Ham from probable relegation."

Sheffield United have said they are now "considering the findings with professional advisors" after the decision. "We are pleased that the tribunal rejected the Premier League's contention that we were not entitled to challenge the disciplinary decision," read a club statement. "We note that the tribunal, in response to that challenge, decided not to overturn the disciplinary commission's decision despite concluding that they would, in all probability, have deducted points from West Ham had they been hearing the case for themselves. We are obviously very disappointed by this conclusion, in particular in circumstances where the tribunal recognised that the outcome of the decision turned out to be, in the panel's own words, unfortunate in the extreme and that Sheffield United have done nothing wrong to merit this outcome. We are at current considering these findings with our professional advisors. It would be inappropriate to comment further until we have had time to consider the reasons the tribunal have given for this decision."

West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson welcomed the decision. "We are happy that this matter is finally closed and all parties can now move on," he said. "The arbitration panel's decision is very clear and reflects what we have believed all along. West Ham United have been preparing for next season in the Premier League since the final whistle at Old Trafford in May and we will continue to do so. I would like to reiterate that Carlos Tevez is a registered West Ham United player with a playing contract that still has three years remaining on it, and that situation remains unchanged."

The Premier League were the last to comment when they released the following response this evening: "The Premier League welcomes the conclusions of the Arbitration Panel and respects the judgment and commentary they have published today. The panel confirmed that throughout this complex and unprecedented case the Premier League followed the process laid out in our rules and behaved reasonably at all times. The Panel also understood that this was a difficult situation, exacerbated by the fact that decisions were being made against the backdrop of the climax to the 2006/07 season. Sir Phillip Otton and his colleagues on the Panel held that the Premier League acted in accordance with its rules and procedures throughout, including the appointing of the Independent Commission to hear the original case. They also held that the Independent Commission’s original decision was neither irrational nor perverse and that the Premier League Board’s subsequent actions were reasonable and provided - in the Panel’s own words - “a practical and workable solution to a difficult situation”. The Premier League recognises that, even by football’s standards, we have been faced with circumstances that were unusual, unexpected and controversial. Our role as the Board of the Premier League is to face these challenges and act at all times in accordance with the powers described in our rules."

The Black Tornado

The arbitration panel charged with ruling on West Ham United's alleged transfer irregularities are poised to deliver a verdict to Sheffield United this afternoon. The three-man independent commission, consisting of former Court of Appeal judge Sir Philip Cotton, QC David Pannick and law specialist Nicholas Randall, do not have the power to deduct points from Alan Curbishley's side, but could order a fresh investigation into controversies surrounding Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, the Argentina internationals. The Times insist that Premiership officials remain confident the arbitration panel will back the decision delivered in the original hearing to issue a financial penalty to West Ham, although the commision must also rule on whether Tevez should have been de-registered in the wake of the original investigation. If the decision falls in Sheffield United's favour then the panel can either recommend financial compensation or a new investigation, with the added complication that there will be scant time for a new disciplinary hearing and any subsequent appeals to take place before the start of the Premiership and Football League seasons.

The BBC pick-up the same point and predict that any such ruling would throw the league into disarray. In the event that the tribunal declares that there are no grounds to order a new disciplinary commission for West Ham, but that Sheffield United could have a case for compensation, a whole new can of worms would be ripped opened. Such a verdict, claim the BBC, would effectively be saying that the original commission acted inappropriately. The Premier League has always maintained it handled the affair by the rulebook and it has consistently argued that the independent commission's original decision to fine West Ham rather than dock points should not be overturned simply because another club does not agree with it. The Sun confirm "the potentially powderkeg arbitration verdict" will be announced in London at 2.30pm.

Meanwhile, those incorrigible West Ham loving scamps over at the Daily Mail insist a black tornado could be about to blow through Upton Park. Surprisingly, this is not some dark proclamation of divine justice being metered out over the Carlos Tevez furore, but rather a rumour that West Ham are leading the chase for £5million-rated Stephen Appiah from Turkish giants Fenerbahce. The 26-year-old Ghana captain, nicknamed the 'Black Tornado', has two years left on his contract and came close to joining Arsenal last summer. The article claims Hammers boss Alan Curbishley is ready to swoop for the former Juventus star in order to add Appiah to his new-look midfield.

West Ham Or Nowhere

There is an unwritten diktat in media circles that decrees a negative slant shall be imposed on any West Ham related story that appears in the national press. Hence, yesterday's signing of talented French winger Julian Faubert has today been turned into a discussion about how the player was desperate to sign for Rangers. An article in The Guardian quotes the player's representative as saying: "Julien was given an ultimatum by Bordeaux - West Ham or nowhere. He wanted to go to Rangers and had given them his word. Everything he did last week was about moving to Rangers and he wasn't looking to line up a move anywhere else. But there is nothing he could do about the transfer fee and you can understand why Bordeaux wanted to accept the offer from West Ham." Rangers were understood to have made an initial £4.3million offer for Faubert and were confident of concluding the deal, despite the interest of the Italian club Roma, until West Ham made their move. A move, described in the emotive terms specially reserved for comment about the Hammers, as "dwarfing" that of their Scottish counterparts.

Of course, there is a slight difference between being 'desperate for a move to Rangers' when that is the only offer open to you, and still being desperate for a move to Glasgow when other options become available. It is not a distinction that the Daily Mail are interested in making. Simon Cass voices the spurious opinion that "the fact that Faubert's first choice was clearly Rangers will have done little to ease worries over Alan Curbishley's ability to attract top talent to Upton Park, having already suffered high-profile snubs from Darren Bent, Mark Viduka and Joey Barton." The player, insists Cass, was so keen to move to Scotland that the 23-year-old refused to join his club's pre-season training last week. That much is true, and yet the indecent speed with which Faubert agreed terms, passsed his medical and signed his contract after West Ham registered their interest, would seem to suggest that the player did not actually need that much persuading to switch his allegiance to London.

The Sun are not particularly interested in the finer details of the transfer but are content to brand Faubert a 'French hothead' with an equally-fiery wife. The main evidence for this seems to be the player's hold-out last week in an attempt to force a move away from the Stade Chaban-Delmas. I would suggest the fact that Faubert is both a young footballer and French would seem to render his strike action completely understandable. The wife's crime was to throw herself fully-clothed into a swimming pool to celebrate her husband's debut goal for the French national team. It's not much of a story but it serves the purpose of allowing the paper to segue into a picture of Carlos Tevez; shown standing in a pool with his daughter Florencia during a respite in the Copa America in Venezuela. If it's good enough for The Sun...

In other news, the Daily Mail claim Aston Villa are on the verge of finally signing West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker in an £8million deal. The England Under-21 skipper is understood to have undergone a medical at Villa's Bodymoor Heath training complex over the weekend. Sources close to the midlands club are adamant the deal could finally go through in the early part of this week despite late interest from Manchester City. The article suggests that Martin O'Neill could also move for the rumoured Hammers targets Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jermain Defoe after being promised "substantial funds" by Villa owner Randy Lerner.

Faubert Signs

West Ham United have confirmed the signing of French international midfielder Julien Faubert from Bordeaux for a fee of £6.1million. The 23-year-old put pen to paper on a five-year contract at Upton Park on Sunday morning and becomes Alan Curbishley's second summer signing following the arrival of Scott Parker from Newcastle United last month. Speaking on the official site, Eggert Magnusson stated: "I am delighted to welcome Julien to Upton Park and feel sure that he will become a very successful signing for the Club. He is one of the most highly-rated young players in European football and many clubs were attempting to sign him, so we are very pleased that he has decided to join West Ham United. I have been very impressed by his desire and ambition and I think he will be very popular among our supporters."

Despite rumours that the player had set his heart on a move to Glasgow Rangers, Faubert announced that signing for West Ham has made a lifelong dream come true. "I am very happy," he said. "For me it has always been a dream to play in the Premier League and now that dream is coming true. West Ham United is a great club and I cannot wait to enjoy this experience. Things happened very quickly in the past few days. As soon as I was told that West Ham wanted to sign me, I was very happy and saw it as a wonderful opportunity. I like the fact that West Ham is recognised as a family club and I am looking forward to being a part of this. It was similar at Bordeaux, where I was very happy, and for me that is important. I have already visited the stadium and it gave me a very good feeling. It is hard to describe, but the atmosphere was very special. I have also met some of the people working at the Club and they have made me feel very welcome. The Chairman, Mr Magnusson, is a very passionate man and has a lot of ambition. I believe that he will bring great success to West Ham and it is very exciting to think about being a part of that."

Born in Le Havre on August 1, 1983, of French Guianese parentage (like Florent Malouda, Bernard Lama, Cyrille Regis and Jean-Claude Darcheville) Julien Faubert's career began in 1998 when he was offered a place at the respected AS Cannes Centre of Excellence, famous for nurturing such talents as Zinédine Zidane, Johan Micoud and Patrick Vieira. He went on to make his league debut in the 2002/03 season in the French second division. After 45 League games (four goals), Bordeaux manager Michel Pavon snapped him up in the summer of 2004 and he made his top-flight debut at Marseille on 7 August 2004. A regular in his first two seasons, Flaubert was used mainly as a right winger by Bordeaux coach Ricardo during 2005/06 and he scored five times as the Girondins finished runners-up behind Olympique Lyonnais to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. The next season, Flaubert's last at the Stade Chaban Delmas, the youngster went on to make 34 appearances for Bordeaux, scoring another five goals, including two in the Champions League, as the French side narrowly missed out on qualification to the last 16 of the competition, from a group that included Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven and Galatasaray.

At the time of his transfer Faubert had appeared in over 100 Championnat games for Bordeaux and had taken his goal total into double figures. He is also a full France international, springing into the national consciousness on 16 August 2006 when he came from the bench after 70 minutes of France's full international in Bosnia to replace Franck Ribery. With the score line at 1-1, he netted a 90th minute strike to save the blushes of his country on his full international debut. At the same time he also became the first player to wear the famous number 10 shirt following the retirement of Zinedine Zidane. It was a well-merited step up for the 23-year-old, who had performed with distinction in his country's run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Under-21 Championship in Portugal three months earlier.

A strong, pacy and versatile player, when Faubert arrived at FC Girondins de Bordeaux he was primarily a right-back before being converted into a midfielder. It was a successful switch calculated to maximise the natural physical attributes of the player, which include prodigious shooting power and an impressive burst of speed that earned Faubert the nickname TGV (train a grande vitesse). Having proven himself comfortable in either position, and on either flank, the winger was rewarded with a new contract until 2011 but it was not enough to prevent envious glances from some of Europe's richest clubs. Now established, and a recent convert to the religion of Islam, Faubert continued to develop into one of the hottest properties in French football last season before the Hammers finally beat off interest from AS Roma and Rangers to secure his services.

The ambitious player is now aiming to enjoy further success on the international stage, with next summer's European Championship Finals in Austria and Switzerland a clear target. "I hope so, because that is very important to me," he says. "First of all, though, I have to prove myself to the manager Alan Curbishley and win a place in the West Ham team. If I can play in every game then I hope that the national team coach will recognise me and give me more opportunities to represent my country, which is a fantastic honour. This is a big step for me and I am looking forward to my future here in England. It is a very exciting opportunity and I hope I can be part of great success at West Ham United."