Mail On Sunday:
Argentina star Carlos Tevez will only join Manchester United and become Sir Alex Ferguson's fourth major signing of the summer if West Ham agree the deal and keep the transfer money.
Tevez, who takes on Brazil in the Copa America final in Venezuela tonight, will be put under pressure this week to drop his agent Kia Joorabchian, who claims to own the economic rights of the player, in order for the deal to be cleared by the Premier League.
But with United flying out today for their Far East tour, the situation is unlikely to be resolved this week.
The player cannot complete his medical as United's club doctors will be in Japan and South Korea, although Ferguson is understandably keen that the complex deal should be sorted out before the start of the season.
United, who fly to Tokyo today before moving on to Seoul and then China next week,are willing to deal with whoever is judged to be the legal owner of the player's registration and economic rights. The club expect Joorabchian to take the case to FIFA, or to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to assert his rights to do the deal.
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 — not Joorabchian's company MSI — it seems United lawyer Maurice Watkins and chief executive David Gill will have to finalise the deal with West Ham owner Eggert Magnusson.
"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.
The Telegraph:
The saga of Carlos Tevez's protracted move from West Ham to Manchester United shows no signs of being resolved as fresh allegations are levelled at Media Sports Investments, the company that claim to own the Argentine striker's "economic rights".
Contrary to reports that the deal could be resolved this week, the possibility of an imminent resolution look increasingly remote.
Warrants have been issued in Brazil for the arrest of Kia Joorabchian, the president of MSI, Nojan Bedroud, an MSI director, and the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, allegedly a major source of the company's wealth.
Tevez takes to the field in the Copa America final tonight, as Argentina take on Brazil. Tevez's outstanding form in the tournament has only enhanced United's desire to sign the striker, but despite their initial optimism of sorting out a deal for the player, it is becoming increasingly immersed in murkiness.
Joorabchian claims Tevez is due for a medical at Old Trafford this week - perhaps the only straightforward part of any potential transfer - but that looks like a tactic to put pressure on West Ham.
West Ham need to hold their nerve. They own Tevez'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, then they need to pay West Ham a transfer fee. Simple as that.
However Joorabchian claims MSI own the player's "economic rights". Quite what these are remains something of a mystery but they are of little use without the player's registration.
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.
West Ham could 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.
PA:
Tevez is due to fly back to England on Tuesday after Sunday's Copa America final between Argentina and Brazil, with a medical pencilled in 24 hours later.
Under normal circumstances, the health check would be the final act before the transfer was completed.
However, in this instance, there are still a number of wrangles to sort out, not least the Premier League's refusal to sanction a move to Old Trafford unless the bulk of any fee is paid directly to West Ham.
While the Premier League remain committed to that stance, United believe the organisation have been given some much-needed breathing space following yesterday's High Court ruling which denied Sheffield United an opportunity to appeal against the decision not to dock West Ham points over the third-party involvement in Tevez's initial registration.
So, although talk of a Thursday press conference may be wide of the mark, not least because both United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, chief executive David Gill and the entire Red Devils communications team will be in Seoul for the second game of the club's four-match Far East tour, there is growing optimism a deal can be struck.
United's legal adviser Maurice Watkins has opted to remain in Manchester to continuing working on the proposed transfer and while club officials are refusing to put a timescale on negotiations, it would be a major surprise if Tevez was not a United player by the time Ferguson's men return from Asia on July 28.
The Indie:
Manchester United 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.
So far the Premiership champions 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 a medical, which his adviser Kia Joorabchian said will take place on Wednesday, United could risk the wrath of the Premier League.
The organisation argue 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.
At the same time Joorabchian and United admit that they have negotiated a deal with Sir Alex Ferguson declaring he believes Tevez will end up at Old Trafford.
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.
An impasse was reached after the Premier League declared it would not sanction the transfer unless West Ham kept the largest portion of the transfer fee. This is because the club, after pleading guilty at a disciplinary hearing, gave undertakings that Tevez is solely their player when it tore up the agreement it had with Joorabchian.
Sunday Mirror:
Carlos Tevez is a phone call away from completing his dream move to Manchester United.
The striker has been at the centre of controversy over his ownership that led to West Ham being fined £5.5m over his signing, along with Javier Mascherano, last August.
He is wanted by the champions and his agent Kia Joorabchian claims the deal will go through this week. But United have yet to make contact with West Ham - and until an agreement is reached between the two clubs the Premier League will refuse to ratify any move for Tevez.
Joorabchian, as part of the MSI group who claim to own Tevez, has been supremely confident that Tevez will be at Old Trafford next season. But West Ham are holding firm. It has been suggested that Tevez was only on loan for the year.
But West Ham insist they have the player under contract. United chief executive David Gill is expected to contact West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson tomorrow or Tuesday to thrash out an agreement.
Magnusson said last night: "I'm not commenting until it's all over and I don't know when it will be. But when it's finished I'll have plenty to say."