West Ham to settle Tevez row

West Ham have just two days to

agree an out-of-court settlement

with Kia Joorabchian over the

transfer of Carlos Tevez to

Manchester United — or face a

lengthy, expensive court case.

Joorabchian's lawyers are ready

to go ahead with their High Court

claim for breach of contract and

damages on Wednesday, having

already served a writ against

West Ham.

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That leaves West Ham,

Joorabchian and the Premier

League little time to agree a

compromise deal, with United's

bid to land Tevez in a £30million

deal before the transfer window

closes on August 31 under threat.

However, if the matter reaches

court and Joorabchian is

successful in his claim, then Tevez

would become a free agent,

meaning he could sign for United

outside the window. The concern

then would be to register him by

the end of August in time for the

Champions League group stages.

West Ham held two meetings with

the Premier League last week in an

attempt to find a compromise.

That is understood to involve

Joorabchian paying the club £6m

to release the Argentine's

registration. But yesterday sources

close to Joorabchian insisted he

would prefer to go to court.

Joorabchian wants to pay just

£100,000, the figure cited in Tevez's

original deal with the London club

which landed them with a £5.5m

fine for breach of rules on third

party ownership of players. But

such a small amount is unlikely to

satisfy the Premier League who

insist West Ham must be the major

cash beneficiaries of any move.