West Ham United's protracted dispute with Kia Joorabchian ended last night when the parties reached an out-of-court settlement. Joorabchian took legal action against the Barclays Premier League club in March, claiming that he was owed payments totalling £7.1millon. The agent has withdrawn his High Court claim against the club and will act as a consultant for them on future transfers, for which he will be paid a fee. The club have said that the agreement had been lodged with the Premier League, but declined to reveal the length or structure of the deal.

It is likely, however, that Joorabchian will recover the £7.1million, which he claimed he was owed, in transfer dealings over the next few years. An agent can expect to receive commission of 5 per cent of the transfer fee. Joorabchian will receive a fee from West Ham in two ways: when the club buy a player he “owns” or is the agent of, or if he acts on behalf of the club in the sale of players. West Ham, who were tenth in the Premier League, are expected to sell between six and ten players this summer.

West Ham described the settlement as “amicable”. It is beneficial for them to have Joorabchian “on their side” before separate legal claims from Sheffield United and Terence Brown, West Ham's former chairman. The Yorkshire club believe that they were relegated at the end of the 2006-07 season as a result of West Ham's admitted breach of Premier League rules in the transfer of Carlos Tévez from Corinthians, the Brazilian club. The arbitration proceedings, which come under FA rules, begin on Monday.

Brown is claiming that he is owed £5million in wages and other proceeds after he was asked to leave as director last year. West Ham are considering a countersuit because they are upset that they were fined £5.5million for breaching league rules in the signing of Tévez, which Brown had overseen. West Ham have said that their arguments in both disputes were not affected by the previous disagreement with Joorabchian.