After seven seasons in the Premier League, Carlos Tévez finally looks to have been pushed out of the door at Manchester City, but will anyone actually miss him?
Tévez’s time in England has been fraught with difficulties including fall-outs with managers, endless transfer sagas and perhaps most famously of all, refusing to come on as a substitute. Tévez’s attitude and problems off the pitch, coupled with his wage demands of nearly £200,000 have forced him out of the door at the Etihad as City have offloaded him to Juventus after the two clubs agreed an eventual £12 million fee for the feisty Argentine.
Controversy followed Tévez from Corinthians as he arrived at West Ham in 2006. Many people were surprised to see that he had signed for West Ham, of all teams (let’s not forget, he was hot property at the time). No offence to West Ham or their fans, but they are hardly known for making stellar signings.
The nation’s suspicions were confirmed when it was revealed that Tévez was under third party ownership and not owned by West Ham, which resulted in registration difficulties and the club being ordered to pay a record £5.5 million in fines for breach of FA rules. Tévez also managed to embarrass himself by throwing his toys out of the pram during a game against Sheffield United, when he was substituted against his wishes and subsequently stormed out of the stadium early.
His team-mates decided he should train in a Brazil jersey for a week as punishment, but Tévez refused saying: “I have respect for Brazilians but I’m Argentine and won’t wear that shirt.” Despite these teething problems, his first season in English football would go down as a success, with his goals in the relegation run-in keeping West Ham in the Premier League. There was an almost suspicious air of inevitably as Tévez scored the only goal of the game against newly-crowned champions Manchester United at Old Trafford to keep West Ham in the Premier League, before signing for them in the summer of 2007.
Tévez initially endeared himself to the fans at United, earning himself a reputation as a hard-working, stubborn player who hassled the opposition into surrendering possession, with a never-say-die attitude. He tasted (and thoroughly enjoyed) success at United during his brief two year spell at the club, helping them to win two Premier League titles and the Champions League by forming an immense attacking triumvirate consisting of himself, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Unfortunately for Tévez, he fell out with Sir Alex Ferguson over a contract dispute and was snapped up by Manchester City in a move that infuriated the red half of Manchester. Interestingly enough, Tévez scored his last goal for United against City. (Coincidentally if you followed this pattern, then Tevez would have signed for Newcastle not Juventus this summer!)
It was a transfer that heralded a new generation of star players who went where the money was, regardless of where their loyalties lay. The transfer also defined Tévez’s ruthless, mercenary character and foreshadowed his future in English football as his ego began to outgrow his footballing ability. The writing was on the wall for Tévez at this point, and greed began to play its part as his rising wage demands controlled his destination.
Rather fittingly, an image of Tévez was used on a billboard by City with the caption “Welcome to Manchester”. Needless to say this did nothing for his poor relationship with the already somewhat disgruntled United fans; something many other fans found distinctly satisfying.
By now, it was becoming clear to see at Man City that the striker’s ego was becoming uncontrollable. He further soured his relationship with United and their fans after the Carling Cup semi-final in 2010, during which he scored in both legs and then referred to Gary Neville as a “boot-licking moron”.
His fractious relationship with City manager Roberto Mancini boiled over at the Allianz Arena in 2011 when Tévez refused to go on as a substitute against Bayern Munich whilst City were losing 2-0. The fall-out resulted in Tévez handing in a transfer request, taking an unauthorised three-month golf holiday (putting on a few extra pounds), and Mancini claiming he’d never play for the club again. His flirtation with trouble continued when he was given 250 hours community service for driving whilst disqualified, which may have proved to be the last straw.
All of this hardly makes for a glowing character reference does it? Whilst the reported fee of £12 million may not make the financial side of Tévez’s move appear fruitful to cash-rich City, clearing his large wage bill will be a relief to City and could pave the way for a revolution at the Etihad as a major squad overhaul looks to be on the cards.
Tévez’s attitude declined to the point where City might be equally as pleased to see the back of him as Juventus will be to see the front of him. This is not an attempt to cast doubt over his footballing ability; Tévez is a rare footballing talent and one of the best in the world on his day, however, his time in the Premier League has been plagued by problems, just ask West Ham, United and most notably, City.
With the riches on offer in the Premier League, mercenaries like Carlos Tévez will always be attracted, but off the field these players can embody much of what is wrong with the modern game; greed and petulance.