Carlos Tevez was responsible for not one but two controversial Premier League moves. He raised eyebrows in 2006 when he was unveiled as West Ham's latest signing, arriving in England alongside Javier Mascherano, and again hit the back pages of newspapers in 2009 by becoming the first player in 10 years to switch from Manchester United to Manchester City. But it was his move to Upton Park in 2006 that caused the most controversy. Tevez signed from Corinthians despite concerns over third-party ownership, amid claims he was part-owned by Media Sports Investment, headed up by Kia Joorabchian. During his time with the Hammers, he scored a winning goal against Man Utd on the final day of the 2006-07 season that kept his side in the Premier League and sent Sheffield United down. Sheffield disputed the legitimacy of Tevez's transfer to West Ham and a Premier League enquiry ruled in favour of the Blades, fining the Hammers £5 million for breaching rules governing third-party ownership but controversially stopped short of docking points off the Londoners. West Ham agreed an £18.1 million compensation deal with Sheffield United in 2009 over Tevez' role in keeping the London club in the Premier League, that was only last year paid off, with the topflight's most controversial transfer having repercussions for seven hole years. What do you think are the most controversial transfers of the Premier League era? Did we miss any out? Let us know in the comment section, below.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
