/world sport
LONDON, England -- Argentina striker Carlos Tevez should be free to finalize his move to Manchester United on Friday after West Ham agreed to release him from his contract, it was reported on Thursday.
Tevez should finalize his move to Manchester Utd on Friday after West Ham reportedly agreed to release him.
An agreement with the player's representatives, which still needs to be ratified by the Premier League and Football Association, will see the Hammers paid between one million and three million pounds in compensation, the Press Association reported.
The deal will also mean the settlement of the 30-million-pound lawsuit brought against West Ham by Tevez's agent Kia Joorabchian.
Manchester United have already indicated a desire to take the 23-year-old Tevez on the same sort of loan package that saw Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano move to Liverpool last season.
That deal took some weeks before it was signed off by the Premier League but with that transfer having already been picked over by the lawyers, a similar deal for Tevez should go through much quicker.
The agreement with West Ham brings an end to a long-running and painful saga for the club that began when former chairman Terry Brown signed Tevez and Mascherano under banned third-party agreements last summer.
The club were fined 5.5 million pounds as a result by a disciplinary commission in April and that led to an unsuccessful legal challenge by relegated Sheffield United, who claimed they should have been docked points.
Earlier Thursday, Tevez said he feared that the protracted transfer saga could damage his chances of making an immediate impact at Old Trafford.
"We need a solution quickly so that I can get on with my career," he told the Sun.
"My hope was I'd be involved in the Community Shield against Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday. That I'm not is very painful.
"I desire a swift solution and demand now that all parties arrive at an agreement because I just want to play. I am not responsible for all this bureaucracy.
"To play for a super club like Manchester United without any pre-season work behind me is going to be a real handicap.
"I am a fighter and am prepared for any challenge. But this is going to be very difficult.
"Mentally I am prepared to play for United at any moment, but physically it may be more difficult the longer it goes on." E-mail to a friend 
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