ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:CARLOS TEVEZ'S relationship with Manchester City was at a new low last night after it emerged that he first asked for a transfer in August and will tell the club again this week that he is determined to leave.
Tevez’s decision to submit a written transfer request has prompted equal measures of bemusement and outrage behind the scenes at City, the club responding with a pointed statement describing themselves as “disappointed by this situation and particularly the actions of Carlos’s representative (Kia Joorabchian)”.
The two sides are now locked in a stand-off reminiscent of Wayne Rooney’s recent contract dispute with Manchester United. In this case, however, there are no signs of a reconciliation, with Tevez insistent he does not want to remain in Manchester beyond next month’s transfer window and the club questioning whether the decision is based on finance rather than his distress about being separated from his family in Argentina.
“I wanted to leave in the summer, but was convinced to return to the club,” Tevez said. “Sadly, my feelings have not changed. I hugely resent the management’s suggestions that I have been unduly influenced by others.
“I am disappointed that the management should now see fit to try to portray the situation in another light. My relationship with certain executives and individuals at the club has broken down and is now beyond repair. I do not wish to expand on this at this stage. They know, because I have told them.
“I wish to clarify that I have no personal issue with the manager Roberto Mancini. I could have signed an improved contract, offered by the club during this season; however this decision is not about money. I have made that clear to both the board and the management on several occasions. The owner has been very generous with what he has offered to me.”
The Tevez camp say he is unhappy as a consequence of his daughters, Florencia and Katia, living in Buenos Aires now he is separated from their mother, Vanessa. Tevez decided after the World Cup that he did not want another season in Manchester, and the Guardian has learned he informed the club in pre-season only to be talked into waiting until this point, predominantly by Joorabchian.
Sources close to the Argentinian say that in the past few months he has been offered a new contract, as well as a one-off sweetener in excess of €1.2 million, but refused both because “he no longer enjoyed going into work in the morning”.
His first wish would be to move back to Argentina but, recognising that might be out of the question, he is holding out for Spain, ideally Real Madrid, where he hopes his estranged family will follow. Failing that, he is threatening to quit football altogether.
City are blaming Joorabchian’s influence, although there is palpable anger towards the player as well. Their statement highlighted the way “Roberto and all at the club have shown, and will continue to show, sensitivity to Carlos’s personal circumstances, including the issue of his family being based overseas.
“Indeed, following his suspension (Tevez was banned from the 3-1 win at West Ham United on Saturday) Carlos requested, and was given, special dispensation to take leave overseas.”
Even this has led to contention behind the scenes. Mancini had allowed Tevez to take four days off and the club had been under the assumption he would be seeing his family. They were distinctly unimpressed to find out he had flown to Tenerife instead. Tevez’s unhappiness about his family life is accepted as genuine, however. “We know he hates being in Manchester,” one senior figure admitted. Yet there is a deep-rooted suspicion there is more to it. “The written transfer request is in stark contrast to Carlos’s stated position in both public and club contexts,” the club said in their statement.
“Significantly, over recent months the club have also received numerous requests from Carlos’s representative to renegotiate and improve his playing contract, as well as more recently a request to extend that contract by another year. In line with the club’s policy of not negotiating playing contracts mid-season this has not been granted. Carlos’s current five-year contract has three-and-a-half years to run and he is the highest-paid player at the club.
“This is both an unfortunate and unwelcome distraction and the club will remain focused on the games ahead in what is turning out to be a very promising season. The door remains open for Carlos to be selected to play.”
Tevez is, in effect, already the best-paid player in English football, with a salary in excess of €240,000 a week putting him ahead of Rooney. Mancini is now contemplating whether to remove the captaincy from the striker when the manager returns from Italy after having a minor operation on his left eye. Ideally, he would like to talk Tevez into changing his mind, aware the striker has scored 33 goals in 50 Premier League appearances for the club, but the two men do not have a good relationship.
Mancini is unsure what the player hoped to gain by letting City’s supporters know he does not want to be at the club. Part of the problem is that Tevez is so uncommunicative – “a loner”, to quote one source – Mancini is often left to guess what is going through the player’s mind.
Tevez admitted last week that being in Manchester while his daughters were on the other side of the world “did hurt” but that “my quality time with them will come later”. City’s publicity department had gone to great lengths to foster the belief that he was not agitating for a move.
After being suspended at the weekend Tevez had been due to play in Thursday’s Europa League tie against Juventus, although that is now under review.
Guardian Service
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