Liverpool have completed the signing of Javier Mascherano after buying him out his contract with private businessman Kia Joorabchian.But West Ham are still facing the threat of a points deduction for what was described on Tuesday night as the "outrageous behaviour" that led to the Argentina midfielder appearing for them earlier this season.
After a month of careful deliberation between lawyers representing Liverpool, the Premier League and Joorabchian, Mascherano has moved to Anfield in a permanent 18-month deal that is rumoured to have cost in the region of £10million and made Joorabchian a very wealthy man.
Liverpool initially wanted to sign a player who excelled at the World Cup but flopped at West Ham on loan. But when they realised any such agreement would be in breach of Premier League rules - and in particular rule U18 which forbids a third party having influence over a player - manager Rafa Benitez had to turn to the club's new American owners and urge them to invest in Mascherano.
A Premier League statement said: "The Premier League is satisfied that the contractual arrangements proposed by Liverpool FC are consistent with its rules; particularly that the relationship between club and player is not subject to third-party influence.
While Liverpool can now include Mascherano in their plans without any fear of reprisals, West Ham will not have to wait long to discover their fate. One senior football official has told Sportsmail that they are still "in big trouble" after failing to gain clarification from the Premier League before selecting Mascherano and Carlos Tevez, who remains the property of Joorabchian, in their side.
"It's pretty hard to see how it could be a more serious breach of rule U18," said the source. "It would seem they have used a player they should not have been able to register."
West Ham are expected to point to the fact that the club's previous administration - in particular former chief executive Paul Aldridge - were responsible for recruiting the two Argentina internationals and they will also try to suggest that the Premier League did not fully understand their own rules.
But an independent commission appointed to examine the issue may dismiss those arguments, especially if there are any documents in existence that reveal that the club's new Icelandic owners did not question the arrangement with Joorabchian when they took over.
For Mascherano, meanwhile, it is now all about impressing Benitez. If Liverpool decide not to extend his deal beyond the initial 18 months, Joorabchian could be given the option of buying him back.