Signing of Tevez and Mascherano nearly burst West Ham’s bubble

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Lingering bad blood with Sheffield United over Argentinian duo’s role in 2007 survival season masks the reality of a toxic Upton Park dressing room under Alan Curbishley

People who were there remember Alan Pardew’s disbelief quickly turning into ecstasy. It was August 2006, four months after Pardew’s young West Ham side had come within a whisker of beating Liverpool in the FA Cup final, and the final day of the transfer window was about to take a turn for the surreal in east London.

At first it seemed like a prank, the idea that two of the hottest talents in South America were about to join West Ham, and Pardew’s response was predictable when the idea was put to him. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “It’s never going to happen.” Only, it was. One of the most controversial transfers in the history of English football progressed at dizzying speed and by the end of day Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano had left the São Paulo club Corinthians for West Ham.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/oct/25/west-ham-carlos-tevez-javier-mascherano-sheffield-united-premier-league

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