Waiting Not A Problem

From the Grauniad

Sir Alex Ferguson has reassured Carlos Tevez that Manchester United are prepared to wait beyond the August 31 transfer deadline in order to take him to Old Trafford.

With just five weeks to go before the transfer window closes, the signing of Tevez is likely to be delayed by the decision of Kia Joorabchian, the Argentinian forward's representative, to launch legal proceedings against West Ham United in an effort to resolve the dispute surrounding the player's ownership and right to seek a move away from Upton Park.

High court proceedings could leave Tevez in a state of limbo, but while Joorabchian's decision to bypass the Court of Arbitration for Sport in favour of a legal action is one that is expected to take longer to complete, it is the route most likely to bring about a clear resolution, with United welcoming the opportunity to clear up the issue of the player's current contract situation before they sign him.

"I feel more confident now because the agent is confident enough to take it to the high court," said Ferguson. "You can be embarrassed there if it's not right and you can lose everything, so he must be very confident regarding the situation with West Ham. Once it goes to the high court, you never know what will happen, but it's better for us because we will know exactly where we stand and that's the best way to resolve it. I would imagine that it would be done before the deadline, but we would wait for him anyway if we have to. We've gone so far now, there's no point stepping back."

Ferguson believes that in Tevez he has identified a player capable of ending his search for a world-class goalscorer following the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid last summer. "There are very few strikers in the world market," added the United manager. "Quite simply, top strikers are becoming rarities and it's very difficult to get them, but I think what Carlos Tevez has shown is his ability to play in England and the immense influence he had on a team at the bottom of the league. I don't think there's any doubt about that. He kept West Ham up because his performances were that good. So there are good reasons to go for a player like that, apart from those two points.

"Sometimes you worry about players from South America, that there will be a settling-in period. When he first went to West Ham, he was a substitute a lot of the time, but once he got a regular game for them, he was fine. We didn't go for him last summer because we weren't sure of the arrangement."