West Ham United will finally bring a close to the costly Carlos Tevez affair this summer, when the English Premier League club pays the final installment -- worth $9.3 million -- of the $28 million compensation deal it agreed to pay Sheffield United in 2009, which is due in July.

Tevez played a crucial role in keeping West Ham in the Premier League in 2007, scoring the winning goal for the Hammers against Manchester Untied in the final game of that season, which led to West Ham’s survival and Sheffield United’s relegation. However, a few weeks before that game, West Ham was fined $7.75 million after a Premier League inquiry found that Tevez’s contract was in breach of a league rule governing third-party ownership. Controversially, the club was not deducted points, and the Argentine was allowed to continue playing in its final three games of the season.

After its relegation in 2007, Sheffield United took the case to an independent tribunal, which found that Tevez had been ineligible to play, as third-party ownership is prohibited in England. As a result, West Ham was ordered to pay the hefty fine. The $9.5 million installment will be hugely important to Sheffield United, now in League One, England’s third division. Last year, the club reported a $20 million loss.