Alan Pardew, the West Ham United manager, is to meet Kia Joorabchian this week in the hope of settling the immediate futures of Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano. Now that he is no longer involved in a possible takeover of the club, who have agreed a deal with a rival consortium headed by Eggert Magnússon, Joorabchian’s remaining interest in matters at Upton Park concerns the two Argentina players under his control.
The pair are reported to have been offered to Atlético Madrid, but although the Spanish club have several forward targets aside from Tévez — including Shaun Wright-Phillips, of Chelsea, who also interests West Ham — they are believed to be keen on Mascherano.
However, Tévez indicated last night that he had no intention of turning his back on the East London club without a battle. “I’ve been here in Europe for just three or four months,” Tévez said. “For my pride, I will go on fighting, despite not playing two or three matches. I’m a guy who always fights and wants to be on the field always — until the end.”
Tévez, who was ordered to wear a Brazil shirt in training by his West Ham team-mates as punishment for storming out of Upton Park after being substituted during the 1-0 victory over Sheffield United last weekend, appeared to be taking the slight with good grace. “We have to take it with humour,” he said.
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West Ham’s hopes of moving into the Olympic Stadium have been raised after a top-level meeting last night between London 2012 leaders and Magnússon. The new West Ham chairman met Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, and senior London 2012 officials to express his interest in a possible move.
The meeting at the House of Commons was said to be constructive and although the timetable for an agreement is tight, this is the first concrete interest from a Barclays Premiership club about moving to the stadium. Magnússon was told that a final decision will be taken by the Olympic Board in January and that he would have to guarantee that the stadium could be used to host leading athletics events after 2012.
A spokesperson for Jowell said: “It was a constructive meeting. The secretary of state said that the board was close to final decisions about future use for the stadium but underlined three key principles which had to be met.
“As promised to the IOC during the bid, there would be a 25,000-seat athletics legacy at the Olympic Stadium and football would have to work alongside that. The stadium would also need to be available for different community groups post-Games, and Mr Magnússon was told the timetable for decisions was very tight.
“It was agreed that the ball was in West Ham’s court. They would reflect on the discussion and decide how they wished to proceed.”
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Detailed design work for the stadium is expected to begin in February, with construction starting in 2008. Magnússon has said that he recognises the need for an athletics legacy.
The Government would expect the club to put about £100 million towards the cost of the stadium, part of which would cover the conversion costs. A spokesman for Magnússon said: “It was a very useful meeting and we fully take on board the points made by the secretary of state and will look at all the options to move forward.”