SOCCER NEWS ROUND-UP:AS THE cavalcade of cars arrived outside the City of Manchester Stadium and a phalanx of men with walkie-talkies and official blazers tried to prevent Carlos Tevez from being completely mobbed by the supporters who had gathered in front of the Colin Bell Stand, it almost felt like a trick of the imagination that the last time we had seen him in this divided city he was kissing the badge on a Manchester United shirt and patting his heart to declare his undying love for the club his new employers regard as the enemy.

That was 57 days ago, on the afternoon when Alex Ferguson’s players collected the Premier League trophy and feelings were running so high the manager’s victory speech was shouted down by Tevez’ mutinous supporters on the old Stretford End.

The Argentinian would confess last night that he had felt “odd” when he arrived back in Manchester after several weeks in Buenos Aires and realised that he now belonged to a club who, traditionally, despise United.

“It was difficult,” he said, as he set out to explain the motives behind his €29.8 million transfer to Manchester City – a club that, back in Argentina, some of his friends had told him they had never heard of.

“The first thing United’s fans have to understand is that a part of my heart will always be with them,” Tevez said. “They were very supportive and they always made me feel good even when I wasn’t playing so I will always keep that in my heart.

“The second point is that the reason I did not stay at United was nothing to do with the fans. It was because Alex Ferguson and David Gill did not want to keep me there.

“I want to thank Ferguson, Gill and the fan-base for the years I spent there, but this is my new life, a new challenge. It is time that Ferguson and Gill took responsibility for the fact that I joined City because they didn’t want to offer me a contract and keep me there until it was too late.”

Tevez would go on to explain that he did not join Liverpool, one of the many clubs who rivalled City for his signature, out of a sense of duty towards those United supporters who had given him something close to Eric Cantona-esque hero-worship during his last few months as, to use the Mancunian vernacular, a Red rather than a Blue.

He is the first United player to move directly from United to City since Terry Cooke in 1999 and he was given an immediate reminder of the tribalism that exists in Manchester when his 200-strong welcoming committee launched into the first rendition of the chant that has been reserved for him – a pumped-up verse that culminates in the line “he hates ‘Munichs’”.

Tevez, however, maintains that moving to Eastlands should not unduly upset United’s followers, his argument being that the clubs have not competed against each other for trophies for many years.

Yet he was joining a club with “ambition to become one of the biggest in the world” and he seemed bemused by some of Ferguson’s comments earlier this week, in particular the allegation that he had not returned the United manager’s calls or text messages while deliberating over his future.

“Over two years there was only one time he (Ferguson) contacted me,” Tevez said. “When somebody doesn’t talk to you, or make any effort to contact you over two years, then to expect an SMS message to be returned is out of the question. There was no line of communication and I don’t think this is the way to treat a player who has been at the club for two years.”

The irony is that Tevez felt he could not tolerate life at Old Trafford if he were not a mandatory first-team pick but is happy to join a club that will have 10 attackers on their books if, as expected, Emmanuel Adebayor becomes City’s next signing.

It was a point he accepted, though. “I have not had any assurance that I will be an automatic member of the first team so I will have to fight hard to become one.”

Unsurprisingly, the manager Mark Hughes is revelling in the capture of a player he feels represents outstanding value for money.

“From where we are in our development, to be able to bring one of the top strikers in world football to the club is a fantastic thing,” he said. “We are delighted Carlos is here.”

Contrary to what Ferguson had alleged, Tevez emphatically denied that the €175,000-a-week five-year contract had been put in place with City last January, but he also had to face the question that will inevitably be directed at all of Mark Hughes’s new signings: was he there simply for the money?

“No,” he replied. “Money has never been important. Having a coach who wants me and who wants to play me, having a good fan base and an environment in which I am happy – these are the important things to me.”

GuardianService