Tevez: More Wrangling …
Guardian: Carlos Tevez’s move to Manchester United suffered a fresh setback last night when West Ham blocked the Argentinian’s proposed medical on the day that he arrived in Manchester from Venezuela.
Although Tevez has already agreed personal terms of £90,000 a week, the Premier League has demanded that any deal must be done between the two clubs and not with the player’s representative, Kia Joorabchian.
A delegation led by the West Ham chairman, Eggert Magnusson, met a team led by the United lawyer Maurice Watkins at the Premier League’s offices in London yesterday but no agreement was reached.
It was the first time that the two clubs had formally met to talk about the deal. West Ham will not sanction a medical until they are happy for the transfer to proceed and there are currently no plans for the two clubs to resume negotiations.
The Joorabchian camp, however, remain optimistic that a solution can be found in the “next 24 or 48 hours”. “Everyone is still talking and trying to work it through,” said a source.
Tevez landed at Manchester airport yesterday evening after playing in the Argentina team that lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final of the Copa América on Sunday night. The 23-year-old plans to stay in the Manchester area looking for permanent accommodation until agreement on his transfer is reached.
It is thought that the most likely solution would involve United and West Ham agreeing a deal and then Joorabchian being paid a substantial agent’s fee as compensation. The situation is different from the loan arrangement that took Javier Mascherano to Liverpool because in that instance West Ham gave up any claim of ownership of the player.
With Tevez the club tore up their third-party agreement with Just Sports Inc and Media Sports Investments - the company that Joorabchian founded - after being fined £5.5m for illegally registering the player. West Ham are adamant that Tevez is contracted to them for another three years while the Joorabchian camp maintain that the agreement cannot be cancelled unilaterally.
Despite currently being over 10,000 miles away from Old Trafford in Tokyo on the first leg of their four-game Far East tour, the United chief executive, David Gill, and the manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, are determined for the proposed transfer to be driven through.
United remain confident that the deal will reach a conclusion before they return from the Far East on July 28 and Wayne Rooney, who played his first game for two months in the 2-2 draw against Urawa Red Diamonds in Saitama yesterday, admitted that he is relishing the prospect of teaming up with Tevez.
“Carlos Tevez was unbelievable for West Ham in the second half of last season. He did brilliantly for them,” said Rooney. “If we can buy him, he will be a great signing for us and I’d really look forward to playing alongside him up front. I don’t know how we would turn out as a partnership because I’d have to play with him first but I’m sure we could [play together].
“Top players anywhere can work off each other and that’s what we would do. At United we don’t really play with two up front because we try and rotate around and move, so it won’t just be the two of us. I’m sure there will be other players attacking as well.”
Tevez’s arrival at United would take the club’s summer spending towards £60m following the arrivals of Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson. The reinforcements would suggest that Ferguson’s side will once again be the team to beat between now and May and Rooney admits that the champions are determined to use their strength in depth to bring more success to Old Trafford.
He said: “We have a big squad now and it’s probably the best squad of players I’ve ever played with.
“I’m really looking forward to the season because this is the longest summer I’ve ever had off. It was six weeks in all and after the first couple of weeks I got bored and wanted to get back playing.
“To win the league last season was fantastic. It gives you a taste and makes you want to do it again. But the Champions League is obviously a goal as well. To get so close last year and lose in the semi-final was disappointing, so hopefully we can improve on that this season.”
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Mirror: WEST HAM stunned Manchester United last night when they blocked plans for striker Carlos Tevez to have an Old Trafford medical today.
The Hammers insist they have no agreement with United over the transfer of the Argentina striker and will not give permission for the fitness checks.
United and West Ham held talks at the Premier League’s offices in London yesterday in a bid to resolve the situation but failed to reach agreement. Tevez arrived in Manchester yesterday to prepare for his fitness tests ahead of agreeing a £100,000-a-week loan deal with a view to a permanent £30million transfer, but one club is not allowed to give a player a medical unless his current club agree.
West Ham are adamant they hold the 23-year-old’s registration for a not her three years and they have ended all third-party agreements with Tevez’s representative Kia Joorabchian which led to their £5.5m fine last season.
However, United admitted this week the “overcomplicated” transfer involves them negotiating with the Hammers, Joorabchian’s company MSI which owns the player’s economic rights, and the Premier League.
If United finally do untangle the web around Tevez, he will enjoy a warm welcome from Wayne Rooney, who admits he cannot wait to form a strike partnership with the Argentine.
“Tevez was unbelievable for West Ham in the second half of last season,” said Rooney. “He did a brilliant job in helping to keep them up in the Premiership.
“If we can sign him, he’ll be a great signing and I’m really looking forward to playing alongside him up front if we can get him.
“I’m sure we could do well together. Top players any where can work off each other and that’s what we could do.”
Tevez, who helped Argentina reach the Copa America final, is planning a holiday.
So if his medical goes ahead and United sort out the wrangle with West Ham, he will meet his new teammates at the Community Shield against Chelsea at Wembley on August 5 - although he won’t play.
