Manchester United Don't Need Carlos Tevez; They've Got Mame Biram Diouf!

Manchester City's Argentine forward Carlos Tevez has been the centre of attention in recent days, with both his on-pitch skill and his off-pitch blabberings.

Off-pitch Blabberings

Starting with the off-pitch drama, Tevez slammed former Manchester United teammate Gary Neville and branded him an "idiot" in a recent interview with an Argentinean radio station.

If you don't know what happened, here's the plot: Neville reportedly agreed with Sir Alex Ferguson that Tevez was not worth the money Man City spent on him, i.e. £25million.

To which the Argentina frontman replied, "I thought to myself, 'what's this idiot talking about me for when I never said anything about him, when there was never any (problems) with us?'"

So now everyone involved seems up in arms about Tevez's controversial comments, etc, etc.

On-pitch skill

And on the pitch, little Carlitos scored twice against his former club at the City of Manchester Stadium in the first leg of the Carling semfinal, which Manchester City won 2-1.

This combined with his impressive goal-scoring form of 18 goals in all competitions so far this season has led many to point out that Manchester United really are missing that vital component in their attack, a component that could've been provided by Tevez had United chose to keep him.

Therefore, the general consensus appears to be that United have really missed out in not opting to sign Tevez on a permanent deal.

Forget Tevez; they've got Diouf!

Wayne Rooney has been in inspired form so far this campaign, with 15 goals in all competitions.

But he's the only inspired attacker on the team it seems; misfiring Dimitar Berbatov still isn't living up to that hefty £30.75million transfer fee, despite his occasional flashes of brilliance. 

As for Michael Owen, bless him, the diminutive striker just can't do enough at the moment to force his way into Sir Alex Ferguson's starting eleven, let alone the starting eleven of Fabio Capello's England team!

So clearly there's something missing in United's attack; a gap that can be filled by Carlos Tevez many will say.

Or, a gap that can be filled by Mame Biram Diouf, the Senegal-born striker signed from Norwegian club Molde.

Diouf has only played a few matches in English football, and has already adjusted to the style of play, scoring on his Old Trafford debut in the 3-0 win over Burnley with a well-taken finish.

And most recently, the 22-year-old proved his worth by scoring a hat-trick for the reserves in their 4-0 win over Sunderland in the Premier Reserve League.

The talented frontman has been surprisingly impressive in just how quickly he has superbly adjusted to the Premier League and the game as a whole in England.

Already he seems comfortable on the ball, confident in his finishing ability, and not afraid to get stuck in with his tireless work ethic; all are traits shown by Carlos Tevez as well.

A fact which makes you realise why Sir Alex eventually opted to sign Diouf instead of Tevez; the Senegal player was signed for only £4million, whereas to keep the Argentina man would've cost £25million.

It's early days of course, but Diouf seems to have great talent and potential, and has already been effective despite receiving only limited playing time.

Only time will tell as to how great of a player Diouf is, but come summer the rhetorical question could quite possibly become clear: who needs Carlos Tevez when you have Mame Biram Diouf?

High Praise Indeed

Manchester United legend and reserve team manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, like Diouf hailed from Norwegian club Molde .

And after the Senegalese man stole the show in the reserve game against Sunderland at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare ground, Solskjaer was full of praise for United's new acquisition.

Speaking to Telegraph Sport , he said: "[Mame Biram] Diouf is a young lad and he will get his chances but he is one that we have brought in for the future.

"He is a different kind of player to what we have up front. Of course, when you sign players you hope that they are going to establish themselves as first team players.

"He has fantastic potential. He is a fantastic athlete and he has a fantastic attitude plus he is a good finisher as you saw [against Sunderland] so we are very pleased so far with the start that he has made."

Fellow future superstar striker Federico Macheda made his injury comeback in the reserve game against Sunderland , but nobody seemed to care about that!

There was only one person who was ever going to steal the show, and that was the man who can be Manchester United's new Carlos Tevez, Mame Biram Diouf.