Sunday Times:
David Gill claimed earlier in the week that going to Fifa for arbitration had already been agreed, but it appears the United chief executive was being seriously premature.
"There will be a meeting between the Premier League, the FA and Fifa on Monday to discuss the Tevez situation," said a spokesman for the Premier League. "One of the issues to be decided is whether to take the matter to Fifa for them to rule on the dispute between the parties." Throwing the case on the mercy of the world governing body would be risky for the Premier League, who face a £50m lawsuit from Sheffield United should it be found that Joorabchian still controls Tevez.
Lawyers for MSI and JSI say negotiations to take Tevez to Old Trafford have progressed with "the knowledge and permission" of West Ham. Speaking in Macau, Gill maintained an air of high confidence that Tevez would soon be a United player "Carlos Tevez is a complicated matter," he said. "It's being worked on by all the parties involved and we hope for a resolution to it in the next few weeks." How could the matter be resolved? "The resolution is that he joins Manchester United," Gill said.
Sunday Telegraph:
Speculation mounted yesterday that the move would have to wait until the first transfer window of 2008 after it emerged that Fifa's Dispute Resolution Chamber is not due to meet until the second week in August, just before the season starts on Aug 11.
However, a Fifa spokesman said: "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."
United chief executive David Gill had 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 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.
One high-ranking DRC officer had even said there was not even any guarantee that the Tevez case would 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, who have blocked Tevez's medical at United, are convinced that they hold Tevez's registration and that the player, who kept them in the Premiership virtually single-handedly, is contracted to them for another three years.
Indie:
David Gill, Manchester United's chief executive, insists the club is financially sound and not about to go broke, in spite of rumours sparked by the club's failure to restructure their debts of about £660 million, which require annual repayments of a staggering £62m.
The money is still there to finance the £30m signing of Tevez, but it is still far from clear whether the Argentinian's move will go ahead. Much rests on a meeting today between representatives of Fifa, world football's governing body, and the Football Association to try to resolve disputes over the striker's registration. Tevez's advisor, Kia Joorabchian, last week accused West Ham of saying one thing in private and another in public in their stance on the ownership of Tevez, something the Upton Park club strenuously deny.
Andreas Herren, a spokesman for Fifa, confirmed that the meeting would take place and said: "My understanding is that the meeting will be with members of the FA, not the Premier League. It could be that someone from the Premier League comes along as well."
Having had a bid for an unidentified striker turned down during the summer, Ferguson appears to have nowhere to turn if his move for Tevez falls through. He could always inquire about Nicolas Anelka, who may be allowed to leave Bolton to join a club that offers Champions' League football.