BUY NOW PAY LATER

Last updated : 22 December 2002 By Editor

It'll be two years before Nazio have finally paid for Jaap Stam. United launched legal proceedings against Lazio last month in a bid to recover the money, having received only £4m of the total fee.

United were particularly annoyed at Lazio's failure to pay, as weeks before the Stam deal, United paid Lazio £28m to sign Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron.

A statement from the club says:

"Manchester United PLC has reached a revised settlement agreement with SS Lazio on the £12 million owed to Manchester United for the transfer to SS Lazio of the registration of Jaap Stam.

"The new agreement involves the assignment to Manchester United by SS Lazio of certain transfer receivables that it is owed from its domestic transfer sales in August 2002. SS Lazio has assigned 20.4 million Euro (£13.3 million), which includes recompense for delay in receipt of these proceeds, to Manchester United with payments commencing in September 2004 and finishing in April 2005. Under domestic Italian transfer regulations these amounts are payable by the Lega Nazionale Professionisti (Italian League) and in accordance with Italian League rules are backed by bank guarantees or insurance policies."

Despite this delay, Ferguson's transfer plans will be unaffected as the cash has been incorporated in the club's overall spending plan for the financial year. While Lazio's players haven't been paid since June.