The Premier League saw one of the most unbelievable transfer deadline days ever. Football fans around the world could not believe their eyes. Two of the brightest young stars in South America, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, joined West Ham United.
At the time, both Argentinian players were hot commodities. Big clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, and Barcelona wanted to sign them. West Ham, on the other hand, was just an average, middle-of-the-pack English team. Nobody expected them to pull off a move of this size. It felt like a total miracle for the club.
However, the deals were complicated and full of secrets. West Ham did not actually buy the players from their Brazilian team, Corinthians. Instead, a private investment group named Media Sports Investments owned the rights to both players. This kind of arrangement is known as third-party ownership. At the time, it was strictly banned in English football.
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Things quickly turned into a major headache on the pitch too. Mascherano barely got any playing time and left for Liverpool soon after. Tevez struggled early on, going months without scoring a single goal.
Eventually, Tevez warmed up and scored the crucial goals that kept West Ham in the Premier League. But the drama did not stop there. The league discovered the illegal third-party contracts and hit West Ham with a massive £5.5 million fine.
To make matters worse, Sheffield United got relegated instead of West Ham. They felt cheated and took West Ham to court. In the end, West Ham had to pay them another £18 million to settle the whole mess. What started as a dream transfer turned into one of the most expensive headaches in football history.
