Man United have confirmed that Carlos Tevez will not be signing for the club on a permanent basis. This is a major blow for everyone associated with the club, following news that Cristiano Ronaldo is on the verge of leaving as well.
Since his arrival at Old Trafford, Tevez has been one of United's most consistent performers. His work-rate, combined with his strength and finishing, make him one of the best strikers in the Premier League. Tevez was simply phenomenal in his debut season, scoring 19 goals and forming a formidable partnership with Wayne Rooney. His second season wasn't very different either, in terms of scoring goals and putting in performances. He scored another 15 goals (many of which were match winners), including 4 in a single match against Blackburn Rovers, even though he was rarely given any starts following the arrival of Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur.
Yet, being a firm fan-favorite and after having won a Champions League and two Premier League titles, Tevez has decided to move on.
United knew all along that they would have to pay £25.5 million to Kia Joorabchian's MSI to tie down Tevez to a permanent contract. The fact that they needed two years to prepare a deal is mind-boggling. Earlier, United chief executive David Gill had said that the price was a little bit too much. From a personal point of view, I would disagree. Since Roman Abramovich's arrival in British football and his apparent will of paying crazy money for players, we have seen the football market suffer from hyperinflation. This has gone worse now that Man City have entered the fray. Keeping in mind the numbers being thrown around these days, getting a striker, who has been tried and tested for two years and has done as good as anyone else in the team, for £25.5 million is nothing short of a good deal. Why United delayed offering Tevez a contract, I don't know. Perhaps, they were intent on convincing MSI to lower their demands for the player.
This delay in offering Tevez a contract is one of the reasons the striker has decided to move on. Tevez feels he has been mistreated and disrespected by the club. Another reason is his failure to hold down a regular place in United's starting XI. Some fans claim that Tevez's goal ratio isn't impressive at all. I, however, don't agree with this since he has scored 34 goals for the club in 98 appearances, a ratio that is slightly better than Berbatov's return of just 14 goals in 42 outings. Even then, Berbatov was given the nod ahead of Tevez on most occasions. This led to the Argentine getting frustrated week in, week out. Tevez did not even get to start the week after he had scored 4 in the earlier discussed game against Blackburn. This shows the extent of how much confidence the player was given.
Joorabchian claims that Tevez's decision to leave is not motivated by money, but with the fact that the player needed more time to think.This could be true, seeing as he rejected the chance of becoming one of United's highest-paid players. However, in joining clubs like Man City and Chelsea, this certainly shows a different image. Tevez has said that he is not interested in a move to Liverpool due to the intense rivalry between the Liverpudlians and the Mancunians. Why is he considering a move to the blue side of Manchester then? Does it really not have anything to do with money, one wonders.
I am sure that, in allowing Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez to leave the club, Fergie will have something up his sleeve. But, had the club offered Tevez a contract only six months ago, we would have been sure of seeing him wear the No. 32 shirt again next season. On the other hand, Tevez's departure will only add fuel to the speculation that Karim Benzema is on his way to Carrington to sign on the dotted line.
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