Web Item - Tevez

West Ham claim victory as agent admits striker was theirs all along - Daily
Mail
Last updated at 10:47am on 3rd August 2007

West Ham are convinced they will face no more legal problems after a
£2million agreement with Carlos Tevez's agent that will allow the striker to
join Manchester United. As part of the settlement, the player's agent Kia
Joorabchian agreed to acknowledge that West Ham owned Tevez's registration -
effectively spiking the guns of any remaining legal action from Sheffield
United, who believed the Hammers should have been deducted points over the
affair.
Premier League lawyers were today analysing every detail of the agreement
but were expected to consent to Tevez's protracted move to Old Trafford in
time for the opening league game against Reading on 12 August.
A club spokesman said the agreement was a victory for West Ham: "This
settlement, if agreed by the Premier League, should bring to an end to all
of the legal issues relating to Carlos Tevez. "The arrangements put in place
confirm that the player's contract and registration have remained with West
Ham throughout this saga."
The club are confident the deal puts an end to any further legal action
against them from Joorabchian. They point to the irony that Joorabchian
launched the legal action against the club but he has ended up up paying
them £2m.
Questions will still be asked how the Argentina star's value has plummeted
from an estimated £35m at the end of last season to only £2m on the eve of
the new campaign.
Marlon Harewood, who only scored four goals for the club last season, moved
to Aston Villa for £3m more last month. Joorabchian's High Court case
against the Hammers was set for 22 August in which he was due to argue he
should only pay £100,000 to release his client. West Ham were set to counter
that by suggesting a new third-party agreement drawn up by new chairman
Eggert Magnusson on 1 December last year - that consented to Tevez leaving
for that figure this summer - was not signed by the player until the season
had finished.
Joorabchian, who fronts Media Sports Investments and Just Sports Inc - the
companies which own the economic rights to Tevez - had threatened last month
to produce "explosive" evidence he could help Sheffield United's club's
cause in their fight for compensation. That evidence, if it existed, may now
never come to light as both parties are believed to have signed a secrecy
agreement over the full details of the whole sorry saga. With Joorabchian
acknowledging West Ham did own Tevez it severely dents the possibility of
any successful compensation claim from Blades chairman Kevin McCabe.
Tevez is believed to have pleaded with Joorabchian to agree a higher
settlement figure than he wanted to play in order to allow the striker to
move on and start playing again. Magnusson inherited a problem which was
none of his making and was subsequently forced to pay a fine of £5.5m after
the club were found guilty of breaking Premier League rules regarding
third-party ownership. Meanwhile Joorabchian must have been apprehensive
that Tevez's proposed deal to United could have been in real jeopardy had
the case dragged on even longer.
Tevez's value to United will only become apparent when he lines up in attack
with Wayne Rooney. Sunday's Community Shield against Chelsea will come too
early for him to play, should the deal go through today, as he has been on
holiday. However, the striker has already taken a medical at Old Trafford.