But the crisis-hit Londoners will be offered extra time to pay up with Blades chief Kevin McCabe ready to negotiate stage payments.

United's £30m claim for being deprived of Premiership status was considered overly conservative by many of those close to their plight. Not any more it isn't.

Try £50m or more as Bramall Lane's new gauge of the true cost of the club's controversial removal from the top flight.

That is the sort of figure which will emerge from a re-calculation of the Blades' compensation demands now that an FA tribunal has awarded in their favour and against West Ham.

Chairman McCabe, talking in a Telegraph one-to-one today, says only that United's claim will be "a sum of substance."

But his choice of words - "we're producing our final figures" - is considered both signficant and revealing. It is now widely understood that the amount will be considerably in excess of the original claim. McCabe also signals his sympathy with possible separate claims from former boss Neil Warnock and relegated players.

The new figure will take into account United's belief that they could and should still be in the Premier League, and the reality that they are serving a second season outside it.

Today, McCabe also reveals his "relief" at the tribunal verdict after an almost obsessive quest for retribution that has run up a legal bill well beyond £1m amid accusations from some areas that his club had taken its eye off the ball in pursuing West Ham through the courts.

Now it is a matter of when - not if - United are compensated. McCabe guardedly predicts a "Springtime-ish" compensation order. It may even come earlier because I understand there is a set date in the machinery for final settlement. But there are bound to be many claims and counter-claims in the intervening months, perhaps finally leading to an "out of court" settlement. The only danger signal to United is the intensifying cash crisis at Upton Park. No-one, least of all United, would want to see the Hammers collapse into administration, potentially wiping out all debts and the compensation deal.

For now, the two clubs are pushing hard against each other. West Ham's futile attempt to appeal through the little-known Court of Arbitration for Sport has been seen for what it probably is - a blatant stalling device.

United's response was swift as they prepared to up their original claim. If the parties were to meet in the middle - as is usual in financial battles - the Blades could expect to net all or most of that £30m. But it is clear that West Ham's delaying tactics could further rebound on them as the figures continue to climb.

It could be argued - and has been by critics of McCabe's stand - that a prolonged absence from the top flight is partly, or mostly, United's own fault.

Last year's appointment of Bryan Robson backfired and a poor season was only redeemed by the late arrival of Kevin Blackwell.

Equally, it is plausibly said that United should have saved themselves instead of slipping to a lamentable last-day home defeat to Wigan. But it has been established beyond doubt that West Ham cheated to survive at United's expense and the hangover from relegation has had a debilitating effect.

If McCabe - who now has a vision for a debt-free Bramall Lane - sees some medicinal value in a compensation award then that is a natural entitlement.



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