TE-VEZ, OR NOT TE-VEZ
By Leigh Sanders
This week sees the red and blue halves of Manchester duel once more in their semifinal second leg Carling Cup encounter.
All the talk over the past few days has been about Manchester City’s in-form Argentine hit man Carlos Tevez.
Having spent two fruitful seasons on loan at rivals United, Tevez’s reading of the fact that the reds didn’t begin to open permanent contract talks until the end of last season was that they weren’t that fussed about signing him.
He switched allegiances to the blue side and has become one of the monikers of the new money-fuelled revolution brought about by their Sheikh backers, who seem willing to throw never-ending amounts of cash at potential new signings.
Sir Alex Ferguson, of course, believes he was right to let Tevez go. The pint-sized Argentinean made all sorts of headlines when he joined West Ham United with compatriot Javier Mascherano in 2006.
West Ham did not own his signature. It emerged that agency Media Sports Investments owned the rights to both players and the club were paying fees to them in order for the stars to play.
This was against Premier League rules and the court case between West Ham and Sheffield United, who claimed that West Ham cost them millions of pounds as they were relegated ahead of them that season from the Premier League, still goes on.
His loan move to United then followed, and he quickly won over the fans with his endless running for the cause.
In 63 appearances he notched up 19 goals, usually from out wide or from playing behind Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov.
His switch to City, on the other hand, began slowly. But this past month he has blown any doubts away with nine goals in seven matches in December, following that up with his first Premier League hat-trick for City in the 4-1 win over Bolton Wanderers.
United, on the other hand, have been struggling for goals. Berbatov looks disinterested, Michael Owen isn’t getting the game-time he craves and the mantle is very much solely on Rooney to bang the goals in that would secure yet another title for the Red Devils.
Yet Ferguson still insists letting Tevez go was the right move. Back in July, when the deal was first completed, he said: “In my opinion, I don’t think he was worth £25m.”
“He was popular with the supporters. The fans quite rightly have their heroes and I was happy to go along with the deal as long as it was the right one but, quite simply, he is not worth £25m.”
The words merely looked to deflect attention away from the fact that under their American owners United are under enormous debt and despite being one of the largest commercial franchises in world sport Fergie’s purse strings are becoming increasingly tightened.
The sale of Christiano Ronaldo this summer helped pave over some of the financial cracks, but it cannot be ignored that they opted to sign the cheaper option of Wigan’s Antonio Valencia (£16m) to Tevez (£25m).
Now Fergie’s trusted lieutenant has backed his decision.
“I can’t disagree with his decision on Tevez,” said Captain Gary Neville this week.
“He was a good player for us, but if the financial demands are too big then that’s just the way it goes. Other good players have left this club in the past. It’s not the first time it’s happened.”
Yes, but that’s not the point Gary. What is the point is that your once mega-rich monopoly is being crushed by your near neighbours which may rankle even more than when Roman Abramovic began his Russian revolution at Chelsea.
If Tevez bags the winner against his old club tonight (Tuesday) then Ferguson may be forced to eat his words.
He’ll never admit it, of course, but letting Tevez slip through his fingers may be his biggest mistake since packing Jaap Stam off to Italy over “autobiographygate.”
