Tevez was one of the most exciting, enthralling athletes I had ever seen. As soon as the whistle blew, there would be Tevez running around like a heat-seeking missile to wherever the ball was. The tenacity and passion he showed every game made him instantly cherished by United fans who saw a humble figure who only cared about the team and winning. During crucial moments of matches, when United desperately needed a goal, there was Tevez to often score the clutch goal. His work rate and charisma made him one of my favorite players and someone who I credit for falling in love with the game (and United).
Then, a strange thing happened. Rumors of his unhappiness came out due to his lack of playing time in the starting eleven. Tevez was often in competition with Dimitar Berbatov in terms of playing time as they played very opposite styles of football. However, I didn’t even want to think about Carlos Tevez leaving as he seemed irreplaceable and a beloved figure. Money certainly wasn’t a problem as United offered the Argentinean a five year extension for around 25 million Euros, easily making him one of the highest paid players on the team. Yet, it wasn’t enough to please Tevez who reportedly felt inexplicably betrayed. Then, he did the unthinkable; he left for Manchester City.
In one summer, both Ronaldo and Tevez had left the club but in my mind, the departure of Tevez stung more. He had now gone across town to the Citizens, who had just started to flex their financial muscle. City tried to rub salt in United’s wounds by unveiling the infamous blue poster of an image of Tevez in front of the phrase “Welcome to Manchester”.
At City, Tevez picked up on his usual form now dazzling the other side of Manchester. His first year couldn’t have been more scripted as he kept up his great scoring. He even scored a brace against United, famously sparking Gary Neville to flip the bird at him. After the season, Roberto Mancini made him the club captain and things couldn’t have been better. His good form continued throughout the first half of this season and everything was just fine. (Wait, this sounds familiar.)
Then on December 20th, Tevez made a stunning move by putting in a transfer request. There was no way City officials would agree to this and threatened to fight him for compensation if he refused to play. Tevez then changed his mind and decided to stay making everything good as new. Yet, as the summer approached, transfer rumors surrounding Tevez started to rear its ugly head again and the 27 year old Argentine had done nothing to put the rumors down.
Recently, Tevez made a television appearance back in his home in Argentina. According to The Telegraph, he had some choice words about the city of Manchester. ”I don’t have any new friends.” “I am always with my family and lifelong friends. I don’t even leave my house. I’m the stay-at-home type.” When asked what was so wrong with Manchester, Tevez replied, “The weather, everything. It has nothing.” “There is nothing to do in Manchester.” To be frank, this doesn’t sound like the words of a committed player, let alone the captain.
City is now in a sticky situation with the striker in terms of his future. On one hand, Tevez is a world class striker, who shares the Premier League Golden Boot (ironically with Berbatov). At the prime age of 27, there is still so much in store. Tevez is also a peculiar figure as he continued to play hard and judging by his demeanor on the pitch, he looked pretty committed to the club. However, there is simply no one who can predict the erratic footballer at any given moment. One moment, he proclaims his ‘absolute commitment’ to City, and then in another, he’s talking about how much he hates Manchester. There’s simply no way of knowing of what he’s going to say next!
Therefore, Manchester City should make the sensible move of just cutting ties with him. Suppose he proclaims his love for City again and decides to stay. Manchester City would depend on him to be their primary goal-scorer as always and he probably wouldn’t disappoint at first. However, can City do well knowing that at any moment, their top goal-scorer is going to say he wants out again? They simply can’t have that distraction especially going into what is arguably one of the most important years in the history of the club after winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League. City have put in way too much money to have everything they’ve built in jeopardy due to their captain and leading goal-scorer being unsure about his future.
If Manchester City want to be a serious contender, the Carlos Tevez transfer saga has to come to a close once and for all. They’ve certainly spent enough to either have someone replace him or just go out and buy someone else. Tevez himself will easily cost £50 million or more to any team like Real Madrid due to his age and form. Everybody wins as City wouldn’t have to deal with Tevez’s antics anymore and the Argentine could finally go somewhere with nice weather.
When City first signed Tevez, their fans rejoiced and mocked United over being able to swipe one of their most prolific star players. However, they also picked up Tevez’s dark side as his lack of stability with staying on a team has made City fans start to share the same disappointment and disgust as the United faithful have for the Argentine play maker.
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