Why not drop the whole messy affair and sign Huntelaar from Netherlands. Top scorere in Europe for the last two seasons and costing £8M.The last Dutch striker wasn't too bad!

"World football¿s governing body believe their decision is in the best interests of all parties". Isn't that their non-decision? They effectively passed the buck!

What a hilarious state of affairs, this whole process is only occuring as a face-saving measure for both WHU and the PL. Simple as.

I THINK this is good news.

Eggert used to work for FIFA and I was always worried about the competence of an organisation that was headed up by that nincompoop, Blatter, for so long. Any decision they made could have been influenced by all sort of political motivations.

The CAI are set up to deal with exactly this sort of case and their decision will be final.

I actually wonder whether this was agreed, as a means of cutting to the chase, by all the parties involved. If FIFA had found in Tevez' favour, West Ham may have felt obliged to appeal, to keep the EPL happy and to avoid giving Sheffield United any ammunition in any future claims.

What a mess. When is the earliest CAS could actually hear the case and come up with its findings ?

Anelka's available, as is Klaas Jan Huntelaar. Is Tevez really worth THIS much trouble?

It isn't in the nature of SAF to drop it and at the moment there's nothing to drop.The message is "Tevez get back to us when we know who we're dealing with."
It needs sorting for the players peace of mind.
UNITED have a good team.We can win without Tevez,but if SAF thinks he fits the bill;we'll be patient.

I don't think West Ham would appeal, Mick. They've already stated that they will accept FIFA's decision. I think he'll be our player whatever happens - there's no way he'll go back yo WH, so whichever way the CAS rules, we'll buy him from someone. I wonder what would happen if they say he is a COMPLETELY free agent, tied to neither WH nor Joorabchian... Would we get him for free? Nah...

Tevez is 23 years old, Anelka is 28. When you fork out a major sum on a new striker it should be on a player with potential to improve.

Huntelaar has never played in the Premiership so represents a gamble. He might turn out to be the next Ruud Van Nistelrooy but he might turn out to be the next Kezman.

Personally, I think Tevez is worth all this trouble and more. It's not often you get the chance to sign a 23 year-old striker who is tipped as a future great in Argentinian football and has a season in the Premier League under his belt.

We will fight this to the bitter end. And rightly so.

Corradi has just hit a bit of form. I am sure Sven would let you have him for say 10m.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is based in Lausanne, Switzerland and typically takes 6 - 12 months to consider each case, although it claims it can speed up the process!!!!!
Joorabchian should use the UK courts to sort this mess out speedily and expose the PL and West Ham for the shysters they are.

Despite the few days delay this is a good development and pushes the story closer to conclusion. Tevez is one Argentinian that wants to play for United - he is well worth the wait, just ask the Hammers fans.

I dont think it matters who resolves this ownership issue so long as its resolved. One thing that does concern me is this. If the CAS find that MSI are the legal owners then great, as we have agreed a deal with them. If however they find in West Hams favour, where do we go from there? I wouldnt have any issues about negotiating with them, but with MSI i believe we had agreed a loan deal, with a big lump sum to be paid in a couple of seasons time. If the CAS find in favour of West Ham we will have to buy him outright. Will we have the money??

is this thing ever going to get sorted out?

im happy for the CAS to judge tho as i feel they will make the right decision no matter if it puts egg on the face of the PL and WHU

Birdy,

I share your concerns that if WHU win the case then United will have to buy tevez outright. I've said as much in a previous posting. Since then I realised that the loan deal wasn't structured that differently to an outright purchase. Even if we had to sign him, the deal wouldn't necessarily require a big first installment. As I understand it, many deals are spread over several years. The drawback is that Utd probably would have to pay more next year (as a second installment) than they have to in the hire purchase deal with MSI/Joorbachian. Still, it may be okay for Utd's budget and WHU might even agree to a similar pricing as for the MSI deal, given the whole mess and that they didn't pay a fee themselves!

I agree with Mancunian, Manchester, ....... I would be happier at this juncture looking to make a move for Anelka. He's a proven PL player, and has experience of life at big clubs both here and abroad(discounting "Citeh", of course!)

I appreciate your point, Mick(Dublin), about his age, but in terms of financial outlay we could buy him outright for a fraction of what the final pricing on Tevez will be.

This whole saga is becoming soooooooo boring, and seems unnecessary as there are other options available in the market at the moment. I just hope we can get a striker in place before the season begins, as Louis can not be relied upon.

last year united and (many) major football clubs everywhere wanted these two argentinian soccer stars..then "out of the blue" west ham united have both players "under contract"...these two "transfers" surprised many of us soccer fans..why a middle of the league team (whu) and not united or real madrid or ac milan..clubs with deep pockets did not sign this two world class players....


surely CAS will put this matter on priority agenda and sort out soon..shame on the fa and the premier league and (even) fifa for not having the balls to resolve this matter..go CAS deal with this situation in a professional and speedy manner for the bettrment of professional soccer around the world..our hopes are with you CAS this day

Regarding how long this will take, apparently the CAS tend to adjust their timelines to fit the needs of individual cases. One of their roles is adjudicating on contentious medal decisions at the Olympics. They turn these cases round in 24 hours!

I'm sure they will come up with an answer before the start of the season. Anyway, ss has been pointed out before, the transfer window is meaningless if Tevez wins his case, because then he will be a free-agent. Mascherano joined the dippers after the January window had closed.

If Tevez loses his case I'm sure we can do a deal with the Hammers. They've already made it clear they don't expect him to be playing for them next season. Even if they won't agree to the exact same deal that we agreed with MSI, they will negotiate on the exact timing of payments. At the end of the day, they want rid of Tevez and to put this whole fiasco behind them.

Besides, the Hammers won't win. Their case has already been described as "not legally watertight", they are only asking for arbitration because the EPL has left them no choice.

Local city fan City Slicker ,Bristol (cant find it on Manchester map) was it a slip of key, and you meant 10p?

Local utd fan bobbyc, Tameside.(can't find it on the Manchester map).

Mike point your inflatable banana in the direction of the city website ,or is it so dire like the club itself ,you have nothing to say.Certainly you cant describe any recent triumphs ,unless your hair is beginning to go grey ,and you are dreaming of your OAP status .My dont the years roll by ,all 31 of em,soon to be 32.

For the benefit of Banana Mike .The A-Z OF Manchester ,or Greater Manchester as it is called, Tameside features prominently .As a matter of fact from where I live in Tameside ,it is nearer to Old Trafford ,than Withington is to the Council Ground.Get rid of your 1976 edition map ,and buy the latest edition.

The clue's in the address bobby. If it ain't called Manchester it ain't Manchester.
You obviously live in the cloud cuckoo district of Tameside if you live closer to ot than I do to Eastlands.

For the benefit of bobbyc, if you want to move the goalposts why don't you shut up about Stockport, also in Greater Manchester.

As usual idiotic ,irrational response from the Banana.Cloud cuckoo land is something the city fans know all about ,so I concede you are the expert there!As I said get back to counting all the fans you know resident in Manchester,and dont forget the rents due tomorrow ,remind Sven wont you!

So when city were know as Ardwick FC all the fans had to come from Ardwick .Stop before you show yourself up as a bigger bitter than we all thought,and get back to the fruit bowl with the rest of the Bananas.As you mention Stockport ,no city fans reside there?you would know I expect!!