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The 7 Worst and Weirdest Transfer Sagas and Mishaps from West Ham

By Scott Johnson

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 14: A steward guards the Dimitri Payet of West Ham United sign outside the stadium prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United and Crystal Palace at London Stadium on January 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 14: A steward guards the Dimitri Payet of West Ham United sign outside the stadium prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United and Crystal Palace at London Stadium on January 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images) /
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MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM – MAY 13: Carlos Tevez of West Ham United scores his team’s first goal past Edwin van der Sar of Manchester United during the Barclays Premiership match between Manchester United and West Ham United at Old Trafford on May 13, 2007 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM – MAY 13: Carlos Tevez of West Ham United scores his team’s first goal past Edwin van der Sar of Manchester United during the Barclays Premiership match between Manchester United and West Ham United at Old Trafford on May 13, 2007 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /

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1. Tevez and Mascherano: From Argentina to the courts

Another transfer that caused mayhem around the club, and across the Premier League. Back when twitter rumours weren’t a thing, and transfers happened before they were all over the papers for weeks, West Ham signed Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano in one fell swoop. Hammers fans all over the place were waking up amazed and somewhat confused. How had this happened?

Illegally, it turns out. With the Premier League’s strict rules on third party ownership the Hammers’ move for the Argentines’ was partially owned by Kia Joorabchian’s Media Sports Investment (MSI) company. This was all meant to pave the way for Joorabchian to own the company. That didn’t pan out very well either.

As such the Hammers were supposed to be pushing up the table with these two players. However they were bottom at Christmas and Mascherano was struggling for gametime behind Hayden Mullins. Class West Ham.

The team were fined because it was ruled a points deduction would not have enough impact given the severity of the rule breach, and it looked like the club would be relegated anyway. Mascherano went off to Liverpool, but Tevez stayed for the whole season. He was the catalyst to a great footballing story.

The aftermath

Well the short story is, the club weren’t relegated. They stayed up by the skin of their teeth thanks to a final day 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, with the winner being scored by Tevez. Irony has its moments and this was a beauty.

As such, Sheffield United were relegated and blamed it all on Tevez and the FA not docking us points. Ignoring the fact that many clubs had agreed the docking of points was not going to do a whole lot. They took it to court, and lost. Then they took the case to court again, and lost. They appealed up and up and eventually a court agreed with them. The Hammers paid 20m in compensation to Sheffield United as a result, a fairly hefty price.

Next: Iheanacho Deal Moves Closer

However the fact the East London club is in the Premier League and Sheffield United are not probably makes that fee irrelevant. The transfer still hangs between both clubs and it is not one that the Sheffield faithful like to talk about..

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