LET'S HAVE A TALK ... Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson may want to have a word in Carlos Tevez's shell-like.
CARLOS TEVEZ can sign for Manchester United today if he wants. There would be no transfer fee because he is not registered with another club. There would be no negotiations as long as he is happy with his personal terms. All it needs is the player, a contract and the agreement of the club and it’s done.
United could even try to get out of paying the agent’s commission, though it’s almost certain they would find themselves with a legal row in court. If Tevez were willing to break his contract with MSI — the company that owns his registration — then he could become as famous for not playing football as Jean Marc Bosman.
The Argentina striker is out of contract with United at the end of this season, when his loan deal expires. In that situation, normally a player will simply choose which offer to accept from any interested clubs and go without a bye or leave.
Not Tevez. His contract with MSI means he cannot agree anything without their permission and, more pointedly, their demands being met first. Or can he? Some might like to see that same contract tested to the full under European Union law.
It was Bosman back in 1995 who successfully argued that the transfer system, where a third party governed a player’s right to move, was unlawful. So if Tevez did want out of the MSI deal, might he just then simply sign for United and get himself a good lawyer?
Or perhaps even ask the club to get Jean Louis Dupont to defend him against the case which would likely be brought by MSI? Dupont was the legal brain behind Bosman’s victory in the European Court for Justice, which changed the face of football for ever.
He has since become a familiar face at United, representing the club in cases involving the complexities of football and European law. And, given his experience in the field, Dupont would be the obvious man to advise them on the Tevez situation.
The lawyer’s greatest victory is that in the name of the little-known Belgian defender in the European Court of Justice. While the action took five years to complete, the argument in the Bosman case was very simple. Dupont claimed any third party (a club) which governs the movement of a player between jobs is a restraint of trade.
That being the case, it violated the individual’s freedom which is protected by the Treaty of Rome, which is at the heart of the EU. MSI might claim their contract with Tevez was signed outside of Europe but since Tevez wants to play in Europe it’s likely that the terms would be at least open to challenge within the EU.
And the fact that MSI is a company and not a club could be seen as irrelevant as their third-party role would likely be the crucial point in question. Third-party ownership of a player is not disallowed by FIFA but its terms could violate EU law if successfully challenged in the courts.
United, by exploring all the possible legal ramifications of Tevez’s contract with MSI, appear to have signalled they have no intention of paying the fee which is being asked. But, if United were to choose this route, the first hurdle to making a free agent of Tevez would be persuading the player to part ways with MSI.
Some may argue it wouldn’t be too difficult. If the club do not want to pay the £32million fee MSI are demanding, they could easily offer a fraction of that sum to the player in return for his signature and a possible court case.
After all, if this happened, Tevez wouldn’t be the first player in the history of football to have his head turned by an offer. At the same time, MSI would then have to weigh up the consequences of going to war with one of the world’s biggest football clubs.
And suing Manchester United wouldn’t be the easiest move — if it came to that. His adviser, Kia Joorabchian, obviously knows it’s getting close to D-Day in the handling of the player.
Recently, Tevez has been man-marked closer by his agents than at any time on the pitch this season. His relationship with Joorabchian is close but it might not always have been that way.
When he arrived in England two years ago he and Javier Mascherano were billeted in a London hotel while the agent fixed them up with a club. Both players initially thought their destination might be Liverpool, Manchester or Arsenal.
On the morning they were sent to East London, Tevez called a friend from Argentina and asked innocently: “Where is West Ham?”
Now, if Tevez, 24, sticks with MSI and things fall through with United he will not want any uncertainty over where he will end up. On the other hand, could he just sign a contract at United — and get himself a good lawyer?
