Should Chelsea Just Say No to Carlos Tevez?

(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Today, it was reported that Carlos Tevez has rejected a five year contract and opted to leave Manchester United. It has also been reported that Chelsea has stepped up their chase for the Argentine hit man.

While Carlos Tevez has proven his worth in the premiership with thirty four goals in two seasons, Chelsea should not be chasing his services for several reasons.

First and foremost, Chelsea employs a 4-3-3 formation in which there is a lone target player. A successful target player in the Chelsea system needs to be big, strong, and fast.

While Carlos Tevez has great speed and skills, his lack of size would surely hinder his ability to contribute as the lone front man for Chelsea.

Additionally, even if Tevez proved me wrong and showed he had enough strength to play as a solitary striker, he certainly does not posses enough ability, strength, or speed to relegate Didier Drogba to the bench.

Thus, having ruled out deploying Tevez as the target would force Carlo Ancelotti to play the Argentinian out on either the left or right wing. This presents another reason not to sign the former Manchester United player.

Chelsea already has a plethora of talent ready to play either wing. Currently Chelsea has Florent Malouda, the oft-injured Joe Cole, and Salomon Kalou as natural wingers, as well as the displaced Nicholas Anelka as a fourth winger.

Even though Malouda has largely been considered a disappointment at Chelsea, he seemed to be regaining his form under Guus Hiddink, showing flashes of brilliance at the end of the 2008-2009 campaign.

While Tevez is surely a better talent than Kalou, he would be in constant competition with Anelka, Cole, and Malouda for a place in the starting eleven.

Therefore, seeing as how Tevez will command a sizable contract, it makes little financial or tactical sense for Chelsea to sign Tevez.

Roman Abramovich would be better suited spending his money finding a permanent replacement for likely departure, Ricardo Carvalho. The center-back partnership between John Terry and Alex certainly seemed mundane at best. And, Chelsea certainly has enough money to find Terry a suitable new partner.

Thus, Roman Abramovich needs to look past Carlos Tevez's glamour and name and splash down the money on a new, young, center-back to complement John Terry. That is, if he really wants to win significant silverware this year.

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