Sir Alex Ferguson insisted yesterday that Manchester United have left nothing to chance in their attempts to sign Carlos T?vez and is hoping that a deal for the West Ham United and Argentina forward will be concluded shortly.
United have an agreement in principle with West Ham for T?vez, who is expected to join the champions on a two-year loan once he returns from Copa America, in Venezuela, next week. The Premier League has stipulated that, for the transfer to be sanctioned, any fee for T?vez must be paid to West Ham and not Kia Joorabchian, the Iranian businessman who owns the economic rights to the player, but Ferguson does not foresee any problems and claims that David Gill, the United chief executive, and Maurice Watkins, the club’s lawyer, have spent the past month making sure that everything is above board.
“It’s been well documented that we are in negotiations with Carlos T?vez and, in essential parts, it is all agreed,” the United manager, who was offered the player last summer but declined to sign him on the basis that there were too many grey areas, said. “Now we are just hoping to finalise it soon.
“I don’t know the intricacies about it – I’ve left that to Maurice Watkins – but I’m sure that the outcome will be that we will be taking him [T?vez] with complete transparency in the deal.”
United had hoped to have the deal wrapped up over the weekend, but Ferguson claimed yesterday that the Premier League “must be holding it up”, an allegation denied by the organisation, which said that it was awaiting the paperwork for the transfer.
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T?vez will cost United about £6 million over the course of the two years, at the end of which they will have the option to buy him permanently, butI Joorabchian will probably demand a large slice, if not all of that fee, meaning that West Ham must reach a settlement with the Iranian either before or after the transfer is concluded that satisfies all parties, including the Premier League, which is to scrutinise any deal.
Ferguson is convinced that he has all but got his man, however, and, having committed up to £58 million on Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson, the manager is confident that his team can retain the league title and win the Champions League for a second time under his tutelage.
“Last season was the third Champions League semi-final we have failed in,” Ferguson said. “We don’t like that. We think we should be doing better and signing these players does give us a bigger chance.”
Hargreaves was keen to play down similarities to Roy Keane, the former captain – “I’m looking forward to making a name for myself and not trying to emulate any one player in particular” – while Ferguson was reluctant to compare Nani to Cristiano Ronaldo, his fellow Portugal winger, and, given the vast array of talent in the squad, it seems that no one can be assured of his place.
“I think players understand that to challenge for everything, you do need a strong squad and it means that they don’t play all the games,” Ferguson said. “Hopefully, they accept that and move on to the business of trying to achieve success for us.”
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Newcastle United have emerged as contenders to sign Gabriel Heinze, the Argentina defender, while the futures of Alan Smith, Kieran Richardson and Giuseppe Rossi remain uncertain.