How West Ham actually managed to sign Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano | OneFootball

Highlights

Pause

Unmute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration 4:42

Loaded: 1.88%

On August 31, 2006, West Ham completed the signings of Argentine duo Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano in what remains one of the most bizarre, yet remarkable double-swoops in the history of English football.

You'll all be familiar with Tevez and Mascherano – two legends of the game, who enjoyed glittering careers playing for top clubs across Europe. But it's hardly as if they were unknown talents when the Hammers brought them to Upton Park. In fact, what makes the story of their arrival even more fascinating is that both had been outstanding for Argentina in the World Cup just weeks prior to the Hammers securing their signatures.

In the case of Tevez, the striker had even been linked with a move to join Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, who were the reigning Premier League champions at the time. On the other hand, West Ham were a mid-table club that had no right to sign players of 'world-class' calibre. But out of nowhere, then-manager Alan Pardew announced on deadline day that the Irons had successfully signed both Argentine stars – causing the West Ham fan base to go absolutely crazy. It was a deal that was shrouded in mystery and one that, as it turns out, was completely and utterly fraudulent. Here's the full lowdown on the Tevez and Mascherano transfer saga that's so bonkers that it would no doubt make for a highly entertaining Hollywood blockbuster.

How West Ham signed Tevez and Mascherano

There had been little news of the Hammers being linked with the Argentine pair in the build-up to deadline day. Back then, social media was still in its infancy and the sort of transfer rumours that now spread across Twitter like wildfire were non-existent at the time.

So when Sky pictures showed the duo standing alongside a beaming Pardew, with Hammers shirts in hand, it came as a shock to virtually the entire football world. West Ham's statement failed to elaborate on much either. "The pair have been signed for an undisclosed fee and put pen-to-paper on permanent contracts with the club this afternoon. All other aspects of the transfers will remain confidential and undisclosed," the statement read. This immediately raised plenty of eyebrows. At that point, West Ham's record signing was Dean Ashton for less than £10 million. The cost of both Tevez and Mascherano would surely be much higher than that and many wondered how on earth West Ham had raised the funds.

Daniel Hurley, author of the book 'The Greatest Escape' which details West Ham's season in 2006/07 in greater depth, told BBC: "I'm baffled that nobody looked into [the transfer] more at the time. To pull off signings like that and basically say 'we don't want to talk about it' is so strange. If you make a signing like that, you should be shouting about it from the rooftops."

And unsurprisingly, it was too good to be true. West Ham had actually broken third-party ownership rules after it was revealed that the rights to Tevez and Mascherano were partially held by Media Sports Investment, owned by Kia Joorabchian. He had owned 51 per cent of Corinthians, where the duo both played, but had retained his investment in the pair even after selling his shares of the club. All deals involving third-party ownership in the Premier League are strictly forbidden, so West Ham should not have been allowed to complete the transfers.

However, by the time the issue came to light in January 2007, then-owner Terry Brown had already sold the club to an Icelandic consortium, with business person Eggert Magnusson as its chairman.

Should West Ham have faced a points penalty?

With West Ham in the middle of a relegation battle at the time, their rivals urged them to receive a points penalty. However, the Hammers did not face any such penalty and were instead fined £5.5m.

Former Wigan manager Paul Jewell stressed: "I had someone from the Premier League in my office, and I said: 'If that had been Wigan or Watford who broke the rules, we'd have been getting a points deduction - the reason West Ham aren't is because they are a big club.' His words were: 'I agree with you, but I'll never say that publicly.' I think they were hoping West Ham were going to go down." However, ex-Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore refuted any claims that 'big club' bias had played a part in the decision.

Had West Ham received a points penalty, they would have been relegated from the Premier League. As it happens, they looked a certainty to go down at one stage anyway, but ended up being inspired by a certain Argentine star – one that shouldn't have even been at the club.

Tevez inspires West Ham to safety

At one stage, it appeared both Argentine signings were complete flops. Mascherano featured just five times for the Hammers and was swiftly moved on to Liverpool, while Tevez didn't score a goal for the Hammers under the tenure of Pardew. In one match against Sheffield United, he was substituted early and threw a tantrum after coming off.

But after the arrival of Alan Curbishley, Tevez found his feet and went on to inspire the Hammers to safety. Even after the Premier League fined West Ham, Tevez was cleared to play and ended up scoring seven goals that season. The most important of these came on the final day of the season against Manchester United, where Tevez's goal proved to be the difference and secured West Ham's safety.

Tevez then joined Man United that summer, but by this point, his legacy at West Ham was already secured. As Hurley told the BBC: "If it was fiction, you'd think it was unrealistic... When we played Man United the following year, Tevez's first return. Before the game, he walked around the pitch doing the 'Hammers' sign. He wasn't even playing for us; he was only with us a few months."