LONDON, Sept 5 - Argentina's Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano will take West Ham United to a new level, manager Alan Pardew said when he welcomed his new signings to Upton Park on Tuesday.

The pair were a sensational transfer coup last week for the Premier League club, echoing the capture 28 years ago of Argentine World Cup winners Ossie Ardiles and Ricardo Villa by fellow London side Tottenham Hotspur.

"We want to challenge the big teams in this division and this is a route to do that," Pardew told a news conference at Upton Park with the players, both 22, sitting either side.

"As a team manager I want to work with the best players in the world...I think these guys are going to take us forward," he said, describing the pair as world class.

"I thought it was a fantastic move for us, to take us to the next level -- let's accept it for what it is."

West Ham signed striker Tevez and midfielder Mascherano, who shone for Argentina at this year's World Cup, from struggling Brazilian champions Corinthians.

Corinthians were bought in 2004 by investment group MSI, who had talks to buy West Ham last year which came to nothing.

Given that Arsenal and Premier League champions Chelsea had also shown an interest, British media have speculated that the pair are being parked at West Ham with a view to a bigger transfer to a major club next year.

Pardew dismissed the speculation, saying he had had assurances they would not be leaving in the January transfer window and had signed four-year contracts.

He also said he was under no obligation to play the Argentina pair regardless of performance. "That will never happen to me, if it did, I would leave," he said.

CLUB SUCCESS

Pardew hopes West Ham will do so well this season that the pair will stay with a club who were promoted from the second division in 2005 and reached last season's FA Cup final -- earning themselves a UEFA Cup place.

"We wouldn't be sitting here with these guys if we hadn't had great success previous to this," Pardew said.

"Hopefully, we'll have more success and they'll stay two, three, four years."

Mascherano explained the pair's choice of West Ham when he said: "For a player the most important thing is to be shown how important it is (for a club) to have you in their squad. West Ham perhaps showed the most will."

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