West Ham manager Alan Pardew says Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano still have a future at the club despite suggestions that they may leave in the wake of Eggert Magnusson’s takeover.
The Argentinian duo were brought to the club by Kia Joorabchian, who had also been heading a consortium interested in buying the club.
“They are two kids and it’s unfortunate that this process has started in this way,” he said.
“We’ve put in a lot of work to ease the settling-in process and hopefully we’ll get time to see it through.”
It was predicted that the pair would leave whenJoorabchian’s interest in the club subsided, but Pardew said he hoped they would be given the opportunity to flourish at Upton Park.
“Some of the criticism our guys have had in their settling-in period has been unfair,” he said.
“They’ve gone through huge changes and still haven’t got a grasp of English yet. But they’re working on it and their work in training has been excellent.”
Club captain Nigel Reo-Coker agreed with his manager that the players had been working hard.
“They apply themselves really well, and work hard in training,” he said.
“They are trying to adapt but people don’t realise how big a change it is for them to come from South America to Europe at only 22.
“It’s a big culture shock, so it’s been very hard for them. But we’ve always been very supportive and tried to make them feel comfortable.”
