Sheffield United's future is assured thanks to the compo to arrive over Carlos Tevez's move to West Ham United.
The Daily Mail says Sheffield United are to receive a total of £18.1m from West Ham over the Tevez affair in stage payments that will be completed by 2013. The figure was itemised for the first time on Wednesday in the Blades' annual accounts.
Chairman Kevin McCabe, who fought a prolonged legal battle over the controversial circumstances of his club's relegation from the Premier League in 2007, has pledged to use the money to make his club 'totally free of external debt.'
It emerged that United borrowed £15m from Santander against the Tevez settlement and that the club now intend to repay the loan inside the next three years.
McCabe said: 'As money comes in from West Ham, the debt reduces.' He spoke yesterday of ensuring that the club's only liabilities would be his own commitment, an investment in shares and loans of around £60m.
The accounts reveal that United - whose retained loss of £18.6m is cushioned by the Tevez income - have sold Chengdu Blades, the club they owned in China, and have disposed of their interest in a hotel adjoining Bramall Lane.
