Straining at the leash when he arrived in Japan 24 hours earlier, Wayne Rooney was finally let free to roam the fields of Saitama yesterday. Afterwards, as he reflected on a summer break that he says was six weeks too long, the Manchester United forward salivated at the prospect of teaming up with Carlos Tévez, even if, some 6,000 miles away in London, that deal had hit a further snag.

Tévez, the West Ham United forward, arrived in Manchester from South America last night with a view to undergoing a medical examination under United’s supervision this morning. But, at almost the same time, a meeting at the Premier League’s headquarters in London between delegations from the two clubs was ending in stalemate, with Eggert Magnússon, the London club’s chairman, telling Maurice Watkins, United’s solicitor, that the transfer cannot proceed.

United are hoping that the complications can be resolved over the coming days, but, with confusion persisting over who owns the player’s registration, the saga is expected to rumble on. Kia Joorabchian, who owns the player’s economic rights, and United had hoped that arranging a medical today would give the deal momentum, placing more of the onus on the Premier League, but United may be wary of proceeding as planned, with a West Ham statement emphasising that “no agreement has been reached in relation to Carlos Tévez”.

The impasse leaves Tévez in limbo in Manchester, with his prospective team-mates on a pre-season tour to Asia, but United expect to sign him on a two-year loan with a view to a permanent transfer. Tellingly, perhaps, Sir Alex Ferguson and his players have begun to roll out the welcome mat for the Argentina forward.

“Tévez was unbelievable for West Ham in the second half of last season,” Rooney said after United opened their tour with a 2-2 draw against Urawa Red Diamonds here in Saitama yesterday. “He did brilliantly for them, keeping them up. If we can sign him, he will be a great signing for us. I’d really look forward to playing alongside him up front. I don’t know how we would turn out as a partnership because I’d have to play with him first, but I’m sure we could. Top players anywhere can work off each other and that’s what we could do.”

Of that there seems little doubt. In their first outing of the pre-season, Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were quick to ease back into the old routine, with the latter scoring United’s second goal and picking up the man-of-the-match award. Ronaldo’s array of stepovers brought awe-struck gasps from the 58,716 crowd, but so did the energy and vigour of Rooney, who, appearing for the first time since defeat by Chelsea in the FA Cup Final on May 19, looked as if he could not wait for the new season to start.

Concerns were expressed in certain quarters when it emerged that Rooney, faced with a rare blank summer, would spend six weeks flitting between New York, St Tropez, the Caribbean and Las Vegas, where he carried one of Ricky Hatton’s belts into the ring before the boxer’s IBO light-welterweight bout against José Luis Castillo on June 23, but the 21-year-old, sporting a new crew-cut, looked and sounded as if he is fighting fit and raring to go.

“I’m really looking forward to playing again because this is the longest summer I’ve ever had off,” Rooney said. “It was six weeks in all. After the first couple of weeks, I got bored and wanted to get back playing, so it was obviously nice to get back and play today. I just can’t wait for the new season to start.”

United fell behind in Saitama when Edwin van der Sar was deceived by the swerve on a shot by Hideki Uchidata, but goals from Darren Fletcher and Ronaldo early in the second half put the English champions ahead before Shinji Ono scored an equaliser in the 78th minute. The only disappointment for the locals was that Owen Hargreaves and Nani, the two summer signings in the United squad, were absent with knee and ankle injuries respectively, which may also keep them out of Friday’s match against FC Seoul in the South Korean capital, where United arrive today.

Nor will Tévez feature in any part of the tour, no matter how quickly his transfer is completed, but United and their legions of Asian supporters need not worry. To use a phrase once attributed to Rooney, the big man is back in town.