Bloody hell…
If Sky Sports are to be believed – and they have an excellent track record so there’s little reason to doubt them – the Corinthians are sending Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano to West Ham on season-long loans.
West Ham have struck a deal with MSI (who own the rights to the Corinthian pair) and both Tevez and Mascherano will apparently stay at West Ham for a season before making the move permanent if all parties (the players, West Ham and MSI) are satisfied.
Oh, how I wish this was a joke 🙂
Once it had been confirmed that Tevez and Mascherano were going to play in England (both going AWOL, their agents in London and what not), the top 3 clubs (Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal) were thought to be the most likely destinations for the Argentinian pair. Manchester United were interested in both Mascherano and Tevez, Arsenal were after Mascherano and had been linked very closely with him (although The Sun, in its infinite wisdom thought that Arsenal would go after Tevez instead) while Chelsea and Tevez have an history going back to May when Mourinho went to watch the Corinthians play.
But no. No Chelsea, no Arsenal, no Manchester United.
As Hasan would say – West ‘fucking’ Ham!
Ok, now, first up, congratulations are in order to West Ham – the club, and obviously to their supporters, who would be over the moon after hearing this news (man, who wouldn’t?). This is a major coup, so let’s look at the consequences:
Will Reo-Coker leave now?
Arsenal and Manchester United have been linked with Reo-Coker, so there is a good chance that one of those clubs could snap him up today.
Will Tevez and Mascherano move to bigger clubs next season?
This is something I’m guessing could happen. I think that the big three (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United) all had doubts over how well the two players would adapt to the pace of the Premiership, so this ‘loan season’ will be a chance for the big clubs to watch Tevez and Mascherano play. There is also a chance that none of these clubs were willing to pay too much for them, so in an effort to squeeze out bigger bucks T and M are being sent to West Ham.
Is this really true?
I’m hoping it’s all bollocks, but no, this looks to be true. Otherwise, SkySports.com just lost any credibility they had (and along with the BBC and Guardian, they are the only news agency you can trust).
Does it matter?
Not to Chelsea fans, it doesn’t. There are rumours that AC Milan have launched a bid for Drogba, but I doubt that Chelsea will sell unless they have a replacement lined up.
Arsenal – well, they have Reo-Coker to go for, plus Gallas as well, but what happened to the secret meetings with Mascherano’s agent? The pressure is on them to sign someone, although with the Reyes-Baptista exchange rumoured to be taking place today Arsenal will finally have some steel in their team.
Manchester United – with Hargreaves saying that his dream move to Manchester United is dead and with Rossi going to Newcastle, I seriously don’t know what we’re going to do today.
Oh, and once again, West Ham and Alan Pardew, good on ya.
Links
- Carlos Tevez’s website – news is announced here.
- Someone agrees with my conspiracy theory…
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
