In the usual scheme of things, the best young soccer players to emerge in South America -- one of the hotbeds of the game?s talent -- soon find their way to European clubs.

It wasn?t always like this. The great Pele spent his whole career in Brazil, apart from his brief swansong in the North American Soccer League. However, the pattern was well established by the 1980s, and the likes of Diego Maradona, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho have all followed this route.

With European clubs having far more money and greater stability, and South American (particularly Brazilian) soccer in a continual state of chaos, the players can hardly be blamed; and their old clubs need the money from the transfers.

So it came as something of a surprise in December when Argentinean star Carlos Tevez, the South American Player of the Year, made a big-money move from Buenos Aires club Boca Juniors to the Brazilian club Corinthians, of Sao Paulo. 

There were a number of good reasons for eyebrows to be raised. It?s very unusual for an Argentinean player to move to Brazil, given the intense rivalry between the two nations.

The transfer fee of US $18 million was the highest ever paid by a Brazilian club. The 20-year-old Tevez is possibly the brightest young prospect in the world. He led Boca Juniors to the Copa Libertadores (South America?s continental club championship) in 2003, and to the runners-up spot last year. Then he played a starring role, scoring eight goals, as Argentina won the Olympic tournament.

Corinthians, who finished in fifth place in the Brazilian national league last year, hardly seemed like the ideal destination for a player of Tevez?s stature, who would normally have been snapped up by a major European club dangling a lucrative contract.

In some ways, it?s refreshing to see someone bucking the trend, playing a small part in helping to keep the domestic South American game well stocked with world-class players. Tevez claimed that he was leaving Boca because of the incessant intrusion into his private life by fans and the media -- a dubious reason, given the Corinthians fans? track record of harassing and abusing their players. Besides, the background to his transfer raises some suspicions, to say the least.

A few weeks earlier, a London-based company by the name of Media Sports Investments (MSI) had announced an investment of around US $35 million into Corinthians, with a 10-year commitment, in return for receiving 51 per cent of the club?s profits. The deal was struck after months of negotiations, with the club directors concerned about the murky identities of the people behind all this money.

MSI?s front man is Kia Joorabchian, an Iranian businessman, who is believed to be representing a consortium of unnamed British and Russian investors. Rumors persist among the South American media that one of these people is Roman Abramovich -- the Russian oil billionaire who shocked English soccer in the summer of 2003, when he came from nowhere to buy London club Chelsea, wiping out their huge debts at a stroke and injecting dizzying amounts of money into the team.

Abramovich?s representatives have denied that he is involved with MSI. Suspicious observers though, couldn?t help noticing that his yacht was moored in a Buenos Aires marina, and he reportedly met the Boca Juniors president Mauricio Macri, shortly before all this happened.

And there?s more.

Before the MSI deal was announced, there had already been whispers about Abramovich looking to buy a Brazilian club, most likely as a "nursery" for developing talented young players who could then be snapped up by Chelsea. Already, Chelsea has similar arrangements with two European clubs: Porto in Portugal (this deal arose from the negotiations over the move of Porto coach Jose Mourinho to Chelsea in the summer of 2004), and PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

These affiliations have already helped them to acquire the very useful services of Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and Arjen Robben. Abramovich also has links with leading Russian club CSKA Moscow, as the largest shareholder in the club?s sponsor, oil giant Sibneft.

The signing of Tevez was apparently arranged by MSI as a "gift" to Corinthians to help get the new relationship off to a good start.

The club has signed more star players since the MSI deal was sealed: Carlos Alberto from Porto (note the Abramovich connection), and another Argentinean, Sebastian Dominguez from Newell?s Old Boys.

They?re also rumored to be trying to bring Brazilian player Vagner Love back to his homeland from CSKA Moscow (yes, that?s another one), and chasing yet another top Argentinean player, Javier Mascherano of River Plate.

As if that weren?t enough, Corinthians has reportedly arranged a co-operation agreement with Georgian club Dinamo Tbilisi, involving plans for the Brazilian club to set up a soccer academy in the Georgian capital.

Although Corinthians president Alberto Dualib has denied any connection between this and the MSI deal, it is worth pointing out that Dinamo?s wealthy owner, Badri Patarkatsishvili, is a close friend of ? Roman Abramovich.

Is this all just a string of coincidences? Well, you never know.

What seems more likely is that Abramovich is building a network of "feeder" clubs for his main plaything, Chelsea -- giving them relatively easy access to the cream of the young talent in an increasing number of countries.

Whether Chelsea actually need all these new players is questionable. They already have the strongest squad in England, possibly the strongest in Europe; and Mourinho has said that he wants to limit it to around 23 players.

Still, setting up a supply line of youngsters for the future would help ensure that older players can be adequately replaced when necessary.

If this is the start of a wider trend, the whole pattern of player movement could eventually be shaped not by the usual forces of economics and players? ambitions, but by the empire-building schemes of the wealthiest club owners. Clubs in Latin America, eastern Europe and elsewhere could see their identities eroded, as they become little more than baseball-style farm teams for their owners? major clubs.

The potential for conflict of interest is enormous. If any one person has a business involvement in two clubs who meet each other in a competition, there?s clearly a danger of a fix being arranged.

When Chelsea and CSKA Moscow were drawn in the same group of four teams for the first phase of the 2004-2005 European Champions League, the governing body UEFA investigated Abramovich?s links with the Russian club, but concluded that nothing untoward was happening. Porto was also in this group, but Chelsea?s ?nursery? agreement with Porto was not considered a problem.

Later this year, FIFA?s former World Club Cup, a largely ignored single-game playoff between the European and South American club champions, will be replaced with the Club World Championship, featuring the champions from each of the world?s six continental federations.

This new tournament -- presumably accompanied by a huge fanfare -- will raise the sagging profile of the idea of global club-level competitions. Regardless of how much money is pumped into Corinthians, it will be some time before they appear in the Club World Championship, as their fifth-place finish in last year?s domestic league wasn?t enough to qualify for this year?s Copa Libertadores. However, if and when they do get there, FIFA will certainly have something to think about -- and they might not be as lenient as UEFA.

Meanwhile, Corinthians has gotten off to an inauspicious start to the 2005 season, losing 2-1 at home against lowly semi-professional outfit Mogi Mirim on January 19, and 1-0 at Marilia three days later, with their new star players not yet appearing because of fitness problems.

Until April, they will be toiling in the regional Paulista championship, before the national championship begins. It?s hardly the perfect stage for such a rising star as Carlos Tevez, and who knows how long he will stay there? If he winds up at Chelsea some time fairly soon, let?s not be too surprised.