Hammers want £6m to end the Tevez row

West Ham will demand £6million compensation from Kia Joorabchian today to give up Carlos Tevez's registration and allow him to become a Manchester United player.

But with the Iran-born businessman currently only willing to pay £100,000 there would appear to be some hard bargaining to be done over the next 36 hours.

If the two parties cannot agree a fee then a date in the High Court beckons on Wednesday after Joorabchian, who has insisted that he still holds the economic rights to the Argentine striker, issued a writ in an effort to force the Hammers to give up the player's registration.

Lawyers from both clubs and the Premier League have since been talking in an effort to resolve the controversial situation - which has dragged on throughout the summer - without the necessity of going to court.

The solution proposed by West Ham would see Joorabchian, through his companies MSI and Just Sports Inc, pay the club money to cover the remaining three years of Tevez's contract, which they value at around £5.5m.

West Ham would be satisfied with that figure since it would also cover the fine imposed by the Premier League for a breach of regulations regarding third-party ownership.

The Premier League would also have to be satisfied that West Ham have received adequate compensation to head off any further litigation by Sheffield United.

But Joorabchian is known to still feel that he has the upper hand in the situation and would be quite prepared to have his day in court.

Most likely is that the two sides come to an adequate compromise that allows Tevez to be paraded as a Manchester United player before the Community Shield with Chelsea on Sunday.

If they cannot agree then it is highly unlikely that Tevez will move to Old Trafford before the transfer window shuts on 31 August.

Any litigation is likely to take some months and would leave the Argentine star in limbo with Hammers boss Alan Curbishley already preparing for a new season without him.