Source: Telegraph
West Ham United complete signing of Herita Ilunga
The 27-year-old left-back arrived on a season-long loan from Toulouse last summer and has been a significant success. Ilunga replaced George McCartney, who was sold to Sunderland for £6m in a deal which the then West Ham manager Alan Curbishley claimed was completed behind his back.
Curbishley subsequently walked out of the club and accused West Ham of interfering with his transfer plans - a claim that has been vehemently denied by the club, who pointed out that McCartney had asked for a transfer.
The issue has rumbled on for most of this season, with Curbishley claiming compensation through constructive dismissal and understood to be demanding up to £3 million. West Ham maintain he is not entitled to a pay out because they did not breach the terms of his contract.
A hearing is set to take place on Friday and lawyers from both sides will discusswhether it should proceed to a tribunal. Given that West Ham are committed to paying more than £20 million in damages to Sheffield United over the Carlos Tevez affair, they will not want to incur any further costs. However they are confident that they have no case to answer.
Terms were agreed on the Ilunga deal in January but it was not announced until yesterday after further financial discussions. Toulouse will receive an initial £1.3m for the player, who has made 33 appearances for West Ham this season, which could double depending on performances.
