A Long Goodbye To Carlos Tevez

In October, I would have urged the club to open negotiations with Carlos Tevez and MSI and sign the Argentinian up on a permanent deal. Tevez did well in his first season, scoring important goals and though his all-round football wasn't better than average I was certain he would improve.

Now it's April and now I can't see Carlos Tevez having a future at the club. In a difficult economic climate we simply cannot afford to pay 20m for him. And he's starting to realise this, too.

'I have many offers, not only from Spain: I need to see which club I can go to and what can be done. We must not only consider the money, I also have to ensure my family feel comfortable, especially my daughter. So I have a lot to think about.'

'There are many players and they all need to play but I have not lost my place because of what I did when I played. I have not played in important matches. The 'clasico' against Chelsea, I did not play. Those are the games that I like to play in.'

I see what he means but the fact is that Tevez started both games against Liverpool and he was involved in 44 games this season: only Vidic, O'Shea and Ronaldo had more. Even Van der Sar played only 41! Granted, 'only' 31 of these were starts - but that's as much as Rooney or Carrick managed and only one less than Berbatov's tally.

Carlitos' Premier League performance is the most pitiful: 3 goals in 16 starts is plainly horrible. Berba's 8 goal in 25 starts is positively brilliant compared to the Argentinian - and he's claimed 9 assists as well...

So let's face it: Carlos Tevez offered nothing but dedication and hard work. While these are qualities which are admirable and which must be appreciated, they are not the most important characteristics of a top striker. His pace and technique have not improved since last season: it got worse instead, despite having a proper pre-season this time. Splashing out 20 million pounds would be an awful risk - a risk we cannot afford.

It looks like the last month of the season will be a long goodbye for Carlos Tevez. I hope he'll say farewell in style, maybe with a winner in the Champions League final.

For the very latest Premier League odds

For massive weekly jackpots - Play the Football Pools Online




Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.