The People:
West Ham did not pay a penny for Tevez because Kia Joorabchian loaned him for a year for free.
Tevez turned down lucrative offers from a Champions League playing club in Italy and another in Spain in January because he believed he could play his part in helping the Hammers avoid relegation.
West Ham chief executive Scott Duxbury has been talking to Manchester United lawyer Maurice Watkins for the past 48 hours in a bid to conclude the transfer of the 23-year-old.
The deal will satisfy the Premier League because it will be no different to that of compatriot Javier Mascherano, who left West Ham to join Liverpool in January.
Duxbury has been trying to conclude a deal with Watkins, and United have no fears it will contravene league rules because it will take the same form as Mascherano's move to Liverpool.
Duxbury didn't return our calls yesterday and West Ham press officer Miranda Nagalingam said: "We are unable to comment."
Joorabchian's lawyers:
"We confirm that Carlos Tevez has, with the knowledge and permission of West Ham been in discussions with other clubs.
"Subsequently, personal terms have now been agreed with Manchester United.
"Carlos Tevez's representatives will work during the course of next week so that a move to Manchester United can be finalised as quickly as possible.
"The process for finalising the player's registration with Manchester United will be undertaken in accordance with appropriate procedures."
Mail on Sunday:
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.
Premier League chiefs Richard Scudamore and Sir Dave Richards face having to defend the League's rules in court if they try to prevent Anglo-Iranian businessman Kia Joorabchian claiming a huge pay-out from Tevez's proposed move to Old Trafford.
Sheffield United are watching developments closely to see if the row could assist their bid to be compensated for relegation from the Premiership, or even give new impetus to their apparently failed bid to be restored to the top flight.
The whole messy saga could drag on for months as 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. But that hardline stance also puts the League in the legal firing line.
The alternative to court action would be an embarrassing 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.
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 said last night: "We support West Ham in asserting their rights over the player."
Tevez's contract with West Ham runs until 2010 and as owners of his registration, it is with the east London club, not Joorabchian, that Manchester United must negotiate.
Joorabchian, however, maintains that his "economic rights" over Tevez, as detailed in the third-party agreement, must be respected. He believes West Ham are under undue pressure from the Premier League to oppose him for fear of receiving the points deduction many observers thought they deserved for the original offence.
Meanwhile, the High Court will decide on Friday if Sheffield United 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 club 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 £3m 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.
PA Sport:
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.
"It is nonsense for West Ham to state they own the player.
"If I lend you my car and you rip up the log book, that does not mean you then own the car."
The Indie:
The Premier League will threaten West Ham United with another inquiry if the club does not keep most of the £35m transfer fee Manchester United could pay for Carlos Tevez.
Last night West Ham reacted by asserting their "rights" to the striker which sets them on a collision course with Kia Joorabchian, the British-Iranian businessman who claims that he owns Tevez and has only loaned him.
However, in a statement the West Ham chairman, Eggert Magnusson, said: " Carlos Tevez is a registered West Ham United player, contracted to the club until June 2010. There is no agreement with West Ham United 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 United."
That 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, 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 £5.5m 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 £35m 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 £10m. However that, again, would be contested by Joorabchian.
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. Tevez will be paid £90,000-a-week by United, taking the overall cost of the deal to £60m.
The Telegraph:
Carlos Tevez's move to Manchester United was plunged into fresh confusion last night after West Ham issued a statement insisting they control the Argentine striker.
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.
Although it is 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 - the confusion and controversy which has clouded the player's short career in England is set to continue for some weeks yet.
With the Premier League insisting that West Ham must conduct the transfer, the East London side have been forced to publicly assert their rights over Tevez.
That's because West Ham were only granted permission by the Premier League to continue playing Tevez at the end of last season after they ripped up third party agreements with Joorabchian and MSI and Just Sport Inc, the two companies who own the player's economic rights.
In boldly declaring that they hold the right to the player's registration, as well as three years of a four-year playing contract, West Ham are certain to now face legal action from Joorabchian.
Despite that West Ham chairman 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."
A source for 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.
The Guardian (yesterday):
West Ham United appear set for a legal battle with Carlos Tevez's handlers after wildly conflicting accounts about the forward's future 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.
West Ham's chairman, Eggert Magnusson, claimed that the 23-year-old is contracted to his club for three more years. "Carlos Tevez is a registered West Ham United player, contracted to the club until June 2010," he said. "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."
Magnusson's comments were swiftly contested by Kia Joorabchian, who brokered the deal that brought Tevez to England. His lawyers said that the player had spoken to other clubs with "the knowledge and permission" of West Ham. It is understood that Joorabchian has a letter in support of his claims.
"Personal terms have now been agreed with Manchester United football club," a statement said. "Carlos Tevez's representatives will work during the course of next week so that a move to Manchester United can be finalised as quickly as possible."
A Manchester United spokesman said: "Carlos Tevez was given permission to speak to us and do a deal." They want to sign him on a two-year loan for £6m, with the option of a full transfer, and lawyers working on their behalf met Premier League officials yesterday.
However, a legal battle looks likely before the future of Tevez, who is in Venezuela at the Copa América, is clarified. Magnusson's statement appears to have come amid pressure from the Premier League, which has demanded that any Tevez deal be done on a club-to-club basis, not through the player's handlers, Media Sports Investments and Just Sports Inc.
NOTW:
West Ham have sensationally evicted Carlos Tevez from his London apartment, ridiculing claims they want him to stay at the club.
The Hammers are still locked in a bitter fight over Tevez joining Manchester United in another controversial loan deal.
Last week they insisted the Argentinian, loaned to them by businessman Kia Joorabchian, remains under contract until 2010 and they expected him back for pre-season training.
But I can reveal the club booted the 23 year old out of his Canary Wharf penthouse four days earlier-taking away all his personal belongings and moving in their new French signing, Julien Faubert.
Tevez was in Venezuela at the time where he's playing in the Copa America tournament. A source told me: "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 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."
A legal source said: "It is utterly preposterous for West Ham to claim they have a financial stake in Carlos. There is not a court in the land that would agree.
"Tevez even helped save them from relegation, which alone saved them around £60million for staying in the top flight.
"That's surely a brilliant return for a player they got for free."