John Simkin Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Javier Alejandro Mascherano and Carlos Alberto Tévez have signed for West Ham on a year's loan. In doing so, they have beaten attempts by Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United to sign these two players. Why? Is it possible this is part of a new bid to takeover West Ham? Mascherano and Tévez both play for Corinthians. This club is owned by Media Sports Investments, a company that attempted to buy West Ham last season. According to news reports, the deal with West Ham was negotiated by Media Sports Investments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted August 31, 2006 Author Share Posted August 31, 2006 This loan deal does not make sense unless you become aware of the long-term strategy of Kia Joorabchian and MSI. Joorabchian is based in London and it is believed that MSI is a front for the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who is living in exile in Britain. In December, 2004, MSI purchased Carlos Tévez from Boca Juniors on behalf of Corinthians for $22m (£11.4m). It was by far the most a Brazilian club had ever paid for a player. The Brazilian league is in a poor state and clubs' finances usually depend on selling players abroad. "Brazilian football doesn't have the resources to maintain a player like Tévez," said Juca Kfouri, Brazil's top sports journalist, expressing the bewilderment and suspicion that the transfer has provoked. MSI promised to plough another $35m (£18.2m) into the team. "Our plan is to build Corinthians into a team of galácticos. Our goal is to do what Man United and Real Madrid have done.” The purchase of Tévez was followed by other big names joining the club including Javier Mascherano, Marinho, Marcelo Mattos, Hugo, Sebastian Dominguez, Gustavo Nery and Roger from Benfica. MSI investment in Corinthians has not been a success in football terms (they are struggling at the bottom of the league) or in commercial terms (Brazilian football does not have the world exposure of the Premiership). However, it was always clear that MSI really wanted a top London club. Initially they tried to buy Arsenal. MSI did not like the quoted price of £400m. MSI then turned its attentions to West Ham. In December 2005 MSI offered £90m for the club: £60m for the club's equity, and £30m for the club's declared debts of £30m and investments in its infrastructure and team. West Ham is owned principally by a small group of shareholders, including the chairman Terry Brown, and two families that have long-term stakes in the club, the Cearns and the Hills. The deal did not go ahead. MSI then targeted Aston Villa (valued at 78m) but lost out in last week’s deal. MSI always wanted a club in London and therefore decided to return to its bid for West Ham. However, this time its strategy has changed. To win round the fans they have arranged for Corinthians two best players to go on loan at West Ham. These players will be sold to Manchester United or Arsenal next year if Chapman resists the MSI takeover. If Chapman agrees to the sale, MSI will bring in other international stars in January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted August 31, 2006 Author Share Posted August 31, 2006 It has just been announced by West Ham that they have purchased Javier Alejandro Mascherano and Carlos Alberto Tévez. It is not a loan deal. It is therefore clear that West Ham have been taken over by MSI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stephen Turner Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 When I was a young boy there used to be a game known by the quaint name of football. This had nothing to do with Russian billionaires, W.A.G.S, "spit roasting"£100,000 a week wages,Sky TV packages, poncy upper middle class "Fans" corporate boxes, Galacticos, agents, super star managers, super star chairmen, Stadiums named after sponcers, vastly overpriced season tickets, players taking more dives than flipper and Jose bloody Morhino. Anyone know what happened to it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 When I was a young boy there used to be a game known by the quaint name of football. This had nothing to do with Russian billionaires, W.A.G.S, "spit roasting"£100,000 a week wages,Sky TV packages, poncy upper middle class "Fans" corporate boxes, Galacticos, agents, super star managers, super star chairmen, Stadiums named after sponcers, vastly overpriced season tickets, players taking more dives than flipper and Jose bloody Morhino. Anyone know what happened to it? That is true but money has always been a key factor in success in football. Although most teams were based around young players developed by the club, the top teams included high-quality purchases from smaller clubs. As a result Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal were the dominate force in English football. As a result of Roman Abramovich’s money, Chelsea has joined the top four challenging for honours. No other club can join these elite unless they find a wealthy backer. It seems that West Ham might just be about to make it a fight between five clubs. It is rumored that West Ham have paid only £1 million to sign Mascherano and Tévez for a year. The terms of the contract is that West Ham can buy them permanently for £30m after a year. West Ham do not currently have that sort of money. Therefore, as long as West Ham perform well, ideally qualify for the Champions League, before the year is out, MSI will buy the club and provide the money to buy Mascherano and Tévez. Money will then be available to buy other world class players. Boris Berezovsky is the man behind MSI. Both Berezovsky and Abramovich made their fortunes from Russia's privitization programme. In return for donations to first Yeltsin and then Putin, these two crooks were protected from being arrested and charged with corruption. Berezovsky fell out with Putin over Chechnya. It is believed Berezovsky was funding the rebels. Aware that he faced arrest, Berezovsky fled to London. He was forced to sell his Russian companies to Abramovich at reduced prices. These companies were Aeroflot, Sibneft, television station ORT and RusAl. To keep in with Putin, Abramovich gave Putin TV station ORT as a present, saying he believed a TV station should be in state hands. Abramovich now left Moscow and became governor of Russia's most far-flung province, Chukotka. Berezovsky is even richer than Abramovich (he was Russia’s first billionaire). Berezovsky is deeply jealous of the success of Chelsea. His main motivation is to create a team that is better than the one owned by Abramovich. It is disturbing to be owned by foreign entrepreneurs who have obtained their billions in shady circumstances. However, the alternative is not very pleasant. It will mean that we will have to sell players like Ashton, Reo-Coker, Ferdinand, or any other young player we develop via the academy. Can you imagine the kind of team West Ham would have now if they had been able to retain players like Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Jermaine Defoe, etc. People who support clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal do not have the misery of watching the development of fine young players, only to see them sold to the highest bidder when they are about to reach their full potential. The most important thing about the MSI takeover is that hopefully West Ham will now be able to hold onto its young players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 People who support clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal do not have the misery of watching the development of fine young players, only to see them sold to the highest bidder when they are about to reach their full potential. The most important thing about the MSI takeover is that hopefully West Ham will now be able to hold onto its young players. Just so long as there is a good reason to witness the expropriated wealth of the Russian working class run around London kicking a ball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 Sources from inside the Corinthians are claiming that West Ham got Mascherano and Tévez on a free. Paul Kelso in the Guardian claims that MSI sold its share of the pair’s registration to West Ham because FA regulations prevent player registrations being owned by anyone other than a club. However, it is possible that the Corinthians still own part of the two players. Kelso goes onto argue that MSI has secured a lucrative sell-on clause. It is also stipulated that West Ham have to sell either player should they receive an offer for a specific fee believed to be in excess of £35m per player or match the fee themselves, with the lion’s share of the profit going to MSI. Kelso therefore believes that Mascherano and Tévez will spend this season in the Premiership shop window before departing to more “glamorous employers”. It has been pointed out got that Mascherano and Tévez have not been playing well this season in Brazil. They have both been in dispute with Emerson Leao, the Corinthians coach and have recently made it clear they were unwilling to play for the club. Therefore their value has gone down and this move is an attempt to increase their price. However, I think it is unlikely they will play well enough to make themselves worth £35m each. MSI are arguing that they are no longer interested in buying a club in Europe. This might be true, but I believe Boris Berezovsky is the one who will eventually turn out to be the one who takes over West Ham in his long drawn out struggle with Roman Abramovich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 Statement just issued by West Ham. Another scoop for the Education Forum. WEST HAM UNITED PLC Statement re Press Speculation The Board of West Ham (the "Board") notes today's press speculation concerning a possible bid for the company following the signing of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano on 31 August 2006. The Board confirms that it has had exploratory discussions in relation to a possible bid but these discussions are at a very early stage and there can be no certainty that an offer for West Ham will be forthcoming. The Board also confirms that there is no contractual link between the signing of the players and the bid discussions. In accordance with Rule 2.10 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the 'City Code'), West Ham announces that it has 20,202,352 Ordinary Shares of 25p each in issue. A further announcement will be made as appropriate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 People who support clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal do not have the misery of watching the development of fine young players, only to see them sold to the highest bidder when they are about to reach their full potential. The most important thing about the MSI takeover is that hopefully West Ham will now be able to hold onto its young players. Just so long as there is a good reason to witness the expropriated wealth of the Russian working class run around London kicking a ball I do feel uncomfortable about the money coming from exploited members of the Russian working class. I wonder where the money came from to build up the Liverpool club. It probably can be traced back to the Liverpool slave trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 I do feel uncomfortable about the money coming from exploited members of the Russian working class. I wonder where the money came from to build up the Liverpool club. It probably can be traced back to the Liverpool slave trade. I await the results of your research into these wild speculations with interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stephen Turner Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 Whilst it is true that money has always played a part in who is successful in football, I believe that what we are witnessing is a whole new phenomina. In short the game is being used to launder seriously dodgy money. as regards WHU, a few sayings spring to mind. Faustian bargain, left handed gift from the Gods and Be careful what you wish for being just some. Anyone care to take a bet about how long it will be before Chelski re-locate, leaving a hugh chunk of Chelsea/Kensington ripe for real estate speculation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 Whilst it is true that money has always played a part in who is successful in football, I believe that what we are witnessing is a whole new phenomina. In short the game is being used to launder seriously dodgy money. as regards WHU, a few sayings spring to mind. Faustian bargain, left handed gift from the Gods and Be careful what you wish for being just some. Anyone care to take a bet about how long it will be before Chelski re-locate, leaving a hugh chunk of Chelsea/Kensington ripe for real estate speculation? It is unclear at the moment who is behind the bid so it cannot be said that it is an attempt to launder money. Do you think this was the objective of the new owners of Manchester United? It is emerging that a key figure in this takeover bid is Israeli Pini Zahavi. It was Zahavi who was also involved in the previous bid for West Ham. Zahavi is himself linked to multi-billionaires who are Jewish and have Israeli citizenship. If this is the case I expect less fuss will be made about the takeover as people will be frightened they will be accused of being anti-Semitic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stephen Turner Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 Whilst it is true that money has always played a part in who is successful in football, I believe that what we are witnessing is a whole new phenomina. In short the game is being used to launder seriously dodgy money. as regards WHU, a few sayings spring to mind. Faustian bargain, left handed gift from the Gods and Be careful what you wish for being just some. Anyone care to take a bet about how long it will be before Chelski re-locate, leaving a hugh chunk of Chelsea/Kensington ripe for real estate speculation? It is unclear at the moment who is behind the bid so it cannot be said that it is an attempt to launder money. Do you think this was the objective of the new owners of Manchester United? No John, I think the long term objective's of the Glasers is simple, asset strip! There is another old saying that is germaine here. When you reach the bottom of a hole, stop digging. As I predicted on these very threads over a year ago, Football will eat itself. and as I used to care about the game (the working class ballet) it saddens me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 It is emerging that a key figure in this takeover bid is Israeli Pini Zahavi. It was Zahavi who was also involved in the previous bid for West Ham. Zahavi is himself linked to multi-billionaires who are Jewish and have Israeli citizenship. If this is the case I expect less fuss will be made about the takeover as people will be frightened they will be accused of being anti-Semitic. What a silly comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted September 5, 2006 Author Share Posted September 5, 2006 The latest rumour is that Michael Tabor is part of the consortium buying West Ham. He wants to move West Ham into the new Olympic Stadium (80,000 capacity). This would enable West Ham to compete with Man Utd. Tabor is a passionate supporter of West Ham and has made it clear in the past that he would like to own the club. He is also a shrewd businessman and his partnership with Aidan O’Brien, J P McManus and John Magnier (Coolmore Stud) has dramatically changed the power-structure of horse-racing. He is also a strong enemy of Ferguson and bought a substantial amount of Man Utd shares in order to get him to drop the Rock of Gibraltar case. He then sold the shares to Glazer as a final act of revenge. Although extremely wealthy (he sold his bookmaking business in 2003 for £27 million) he is not rich enough to takeover West Ham on his own. I doubt very much if he could work with someone like Kia Joorabchian. It has to be remembered that Joorabchian is an Arsenal fan (he owns one of the executive boxes at the new stadium). He also believes he can make money owning football clubs. That is a delusion. The market-place, especially the wages obtained by the top players, makes this an impossibility. If Joorabchian attempts to do turn West Ham into a profitable business, he will end up bankrupt. That is of course not in the interests of the club. Our best hope is that these faceless billionaires give their money to Michael Tabor to run the show. However, I suspect that is not going to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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