Manchester United
have defied the credit crunch crippling the nation by agreeing a
British record £32million fee for striker Carlos Tevez. Sportsmail
can reveal that the Barclays Premier League champions have reached
a deal with Tevez's owners MSI that will turn his current Old
Trafford loan deal into a permanent move within the next couple of
months.
The incredible valuation shows that, even in the current harsh
economic climate, English football continues to thrive at the very
top level and it will eclipse the £30m paid by Chelsea to AC Milan
for striker Andriy Shevchenko two summers ago.
Tevez has been on loan at Old Trafford for 12 months and has
been solely owned by Iranian businessman Kia Joorabchian's MSI
company since they paid £2m to buy him out of a similar - and
complicated - deal with West Ham last summer.
United always knew that they would have to dig deep if they
wanted to make Tevez's switch permanent but manager Sir Alex
Ferguson has been so impressed with the 24-year-old's contribution
during the club's double-winning season that he has implored chief
executive David Gill to move swiftly.
The club will now have to sort out a permanent contract with
Tevez himself - in all likelihood for five years - before the
transfer can be completed. 'We know what we have to do and what we
have to pay. The only issue is that we would have to sort out a
longterm contract for him. But it's not a problem. We can do it in
September, October, November or December.
'Sir Alex has explained it to him and he is very comfortable
with it.' Tevez scored 14 goals for United last season and has
quickly become a favourite with United fans who are impressed not
only with his abilities but also his work-rate.
The Argentina international will be offered an £80,000-a-week
deal by United and has already indicated that he wants to
stay. Tevez has been owned by MSI since Joorabchian bought him
from Boca Juniors for £12m in 2004 and took him to Corinthians in
Brazil. From there, he went on loan to West Ham in 2006.
The £32m fee will not be paid up front by United. In reality, a
sum of about £15m will be paid, with the rest following on in
relation to Tevez's appearances and achievements. United's current
record fee is the £29m paid to Leeds for defender Rio Ferdinand in
2002.