Tevez to West Ham?!

I went to bed last night thinking that perhaps a secret deal was in the works for the Argentian duo of Tevez and Mascherano, both of whom have impressed in recent times, even prior to the World Cup. While ultimately I would like to see home grown players (Rossi, Jones etc) vying for the vacant berths in midfield and up front, you can never argue with the signing of genuine world-class players, even though they don't always succeed as one might expect.

The one dampener to my optimism was the rumour that Arsenal were in the mix, and the London factor would be key. Turns out I was half right, but who in their right mind would have possibly expected West Ham to triumphantly announce to signing of two of Argentina's best players this morning?

Something smells rather fishy about the whole deal. It has been stressed that the pair have signed "permanent" contracts, but there is no mention as to the duration of that permanance (yes, oxymoronic I know). The fees have not been disclosed either, which is not uncommon, but only serves to the mystery. There has and will be no comment from the players, we are told, and news of their unveiling as Hammers is still awaited.

Where does this leave United? Well, we're top of the table, with 9 points and 10 goals from 3 games. If we keep our lads fit, then we have the squad to go the distance, and who knows, there are still a few hours to go before the transfer deadline. Perhaps Alan Pardew will find himself in the same position that Sam Allardyce did with Didi Hamman, and sell the pair off in a few hours, pocketing a cool million in the process.