Troubled Carlos Tevez is a tragic waste of talent

It would be too much to expect someone as well remunerated as Carlos Tevez to do anything as arduous as actually think for himself but whoever advised him to rescind his recent transfer request probably had the player’s best interests at heart.

The Argentinian might have yet to master the English language but he must have realized how counterproductive it would be to demand a transfer at this delicate stage of the season. The club could be willing to countenance the departure of  some of their more peripheral players but Tevez is their talisman and it is largely thanks to his goals that Manchester City remain realistic contenders for the Premier League title.

None of Tevez’s stated reasons for wanting to leave stand up to any sort of scrutiny. His main complaint was that, ‘my relationship with certain executives and individuals at the club has broken down and is now beyond repair’. He was, however, quick to point out that he had no issue with manager Roberto Mancini.

Why would the club captain attach so much importance to his interaction with those in the upper echelons of the Manchester City hierachy? A footballer’s job is simply to turn up to training and put in a performance come match day, something which Tevez has been doing with aplomb. For a player to want to leave citing an issue with  ‘certain executives’ is as unprecedented as it is inexplicable.

It has been widely reported that Tevez is homesick. Being away from his two children did not seem to be an insurmountable problem during his first three seasons in England but stories that the player pines for a return to Argentina have been gathering pace since the multi million pound move to Eastlands.

This excuse lost a little credence when it emerged that on a recent four day break granted to him by the club specifically so he could spend time with his children Tevez had instead taken a trip to Mallorca with one of his mates.

Even if the absence of loved ones has genuinely unsettled the Argentinian there is still the issue of his enormous transfer fee and exorbitant wages. He cost the club between £25 million and £47 million, depending on who you believe, and earns around £250,000 a week.  A player who has plied his trade in both Brazil and Argentina must be aware that there are only a handful of clubs in the world capable of coming up with this sort of money and none of them are situated anywhere near South America.

There are two possible inferences to be drawn from Tevez’s transfer request. The first is that he is following in the footsteps of Wayne Rooney in a game of brinksmanship designed to end with an even more lucrative contract. The second is that he is actually agitating for a move to a new club.

Either way Tevez’s thinking is flawed. With the Financial Fair Play Regulaions just around the corner the clubs which could conceivably make a move for him, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea are all busy trying to balance the books. Taking Tevez’s amortized transfer fee into consideration he would probably costs in the region of £1.6 million a month, a potentially insurmountable burden on even the most accommodating of wage bills.

Transfers of this magnitude tend to be several months in the making. Tevez must be aware that there is practically no chance of a club coming up with an acceptable offer during the mid season window and his manager is hardly likely to contemplate allowing his best player to leave on loan.

It is difficult to believe that it is about the money and the player himself maintains that he is not motivated by greed. Tevez is already one of the best paid players on the planet and Manchester City even managed to find a pretext to offer him a placatory million pounds in the wake of his transfer request, citing ‘unused image rights’.

All that he has achieved with this particular transfer request is to alienate the Manchester City supporters and highlight the fact that, no matter how many match winning performances he puts in, there will always be questions over his character and commitment.

With 33 goals in 51 games for Manchester City it is an inopportune time for Tevez to have hit the self destruct button. His relationship with the club may not be beyond repair and a reconciliation appears to have already taken place but everyone involved with the game of football is entitled to feel disillusioned with Tevez.

The Manchester City captain is the recipient of widespread adulation as well as lavish compensation yet contentment continues to elude him.  Here is a player who is at the peak of his career and has the footballing world at his feet but for some reason seems incapable of enjoying his incredible good fortune. For such phenomenal talent to be wasted on a player who derives such little pleasure from it is nothing less than tragic.

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• john_capper

  think you’ve hit the nail on the head….there’s so much rubbish written here but liked your article

• Guest

  Thanks for your measured, thoughtful article/blog James. It served as a bit of an antidote to the knee-jerk swill we usually get to read about City (and other clubs) here.

• mbell87

  spot on. as a man utd season ticket holder it is cathartic to see other clubs’ fans finally getting to understand how false and manufactured his incessant posturing, pandering to fans and relentless badge kissing is at whichever club his owner/agent has sealed his latest move to. (rooney is not much better).