Joorabchian further stated that he paid West Ham £2 million to release Tevez's registration so that he could join Manchester United in August 2007 on the understanding that West Ham would return the money with legal costs amounting to £2.6 million. That transfer had itself been subject to a protracted dispute while Joorabchian claimed that MSI and Just Sports Inc retained the economic rights to the player and should therefore receive any fee for the transfer, rather than West Ham as the Premier League insisted. In the end, West Ham received £2 million for the player's registration —the money Joorabchain claimed to have paid West Ham on the understanding that it would be returned.