West Ham United have reiterated their position on Carlos Tevez in the wake of news that the striker will be undergoing a medical with Manchester United next week.
Earlier this evening Kia Joorabchian released a statement claiming that Tevez would be flying to Manchester next Tuesday in order to undertake a medical prior to the rubber-stamping of his switch to Old Trafford."Tevez will fly to Britain for a medical at Old Trafford as part of the process of his transfer to Manchester United," said Joorabchian.
"It is our understanding that all parties involved in the transfer are now satisfied the administrative issues will be settled in the next few days.
"We will not be adding further to this statement at this time."
Joorabchian's statement followed comments made by Man Utd boss Alec/x Ferguson earlier in the day in which he too claimed that the deal was close to completion.
"We think he is our player," said Ferguson, adding that "the Premier League seem to be holding back to make sure everything is transparent ... and we don't want a bad taste surrounding the transfer".
But given West Ham United's stance this evening, and the Premier League's insistance that any deal must be struck directly with the Hammers, that is unlikely to be the case.
With Eggert Magnusson wedged somewhere between a rock and a hard place at present it is unlikely that United will agree to hand over Tevez's registration as that would effectively signal an admission regarding the Argentinian's true ownership.
In a statement released to the press tonight, the club said:
"There is no deal in place regarding Carlos Tevez. He remains contracted to and registered with West Ham and there is no change to that situation.
"Obviously, a move cannot take place without the agreement of West Ham and the Premier League."
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