Carlos Tevez: Where Next for the Manchester City Captain?

Just one week after Carlos Tevez handed in a transfer request the whole affair seems to have taken another twist. It has emerged that Tevez’s representatives are trying to engineer a January move away from Manchester City and that they have taken the audacious step of contacting Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United to see if the Red Devils are interested in being reunited with their old star.

Over the last week a war of words has developed between Tevez and Manchester City.

The first blow was struck by Tevez last Sunday when the captain stunned everyone involved at the Eastlands by handing in a transfer request which the club duly rejected out of hand.

At first the Argentinean suggested home sickness as the main reason for wanting to leave the world’s richest club. However, the club immediately responded in a manner that showed they were playing hard ball in this situation.

A club statement said, “The written transfer request is in stark contrast to Carlos’ stated position in both public and club contexts.

“Significantly, over recent months, the club has also received numerous requests from Carlos’ representative to renegotiate and improve his playing contract as well as more recently a request to extend that contract by another year.”

It was obvious from the outset that the club were in no mood to be dictated to by their main star and that lines were drawn in the sand on certain issues.

Those being that Tevez, contrary to popular belief, was the highest paid player on the club’s wage bill on some £290,000 per week and that the transfer request on the grounds of home sickness was little more than a ploy as the player’s representatives had tried to extend and improve his contract on numerous occasions over the last year.

In one fell swoop Manchester City had gained the moral high ground and Tevez was left scrambling to explain the strangeness of his request.

Controversy is never too far away where Carlos Tevez is concerned.

In 2006 the striker refused to play for his club Corinthians as his agent and owner, Kia Joorabchian, was trying to arrange a move to West Ham United. The move was to prove an important one as Tevez scored the winning goal that kept the Hammers up and Sheffield United were relegated in their place.

Unhappy in the manner of Tevez’s and Mascherano’s transfers’, the duo were part owned by a third party, the Blades appealed their relegation. The action took almost two years to come to fruition and in the end United were awarded £20 million in compensation that West Ham were forced to pay over five seasons.

While Sheffield United were readying their appeal, Tevez had become one of the hottest strikers in the world and it came as no surprise to see Manchester United register their interest in the player.

West Ham’s good fortune was soon to turn to dust as they were never the majority owner of Tevez as Joorabchian negotiated freely with the Red Devils who only paid £2 million in compensation for the player.

He stayed at Old Trafford for two successful seasons but Alex Ferguson refused to budge on Kia Joorabchian's £25 million demands for the player to stay and in a somewhat controversial fashion the striker made the short trip across the city to the Eastlands and Manchester City.

Now in only his second season with the Citizens, it looks as if Tevez is getting itchy feet again.

The rules have changed this time though.

This time around, Tevez and Joorabchian are dealing with a club where money is no object and they can literally leave the Argentinean rotting without on the sidelines without any qualms that they are doing the right thing.

The trail of clubs before Manchester City is long. Each and every team were restricted by budgetary constraints so that when Tevez was offered an escape route, from Alex Ferguson’s substitutes bench on the way to becoming the highest paid player in the country, it must have seemed like all his wishes were coming true at once.

Now, Manchester City own Tevez’s full registration and no longer need to keep Joorabchian onside.

At no stage during his career has Tevez moved away from Joorabchain’s comforting arm so it comes as no surprise to see the players excuse for wanting a transfer shifting away from “home sickness” to one of a relationship breakdown between Garry Cook and Kia Joorabchian.

Over the last three years the Iranian super agent had become one of the most powerful men at Manchester City through the advice he offered. He played a key role in securing numerous players’ signatures including those of Robinho, Jo, and Tevez but most significantly he played an important part in bringing Cook to the club after a recommendation to previous owner Thaksin Shinawatra.

Now after years of playing an important role at the club, Joorabchian is now unwanted and not needed anymore.

Ironically, the biggest winner in this whole debacle could be Roberto Mancini.

It is no secret that Tevez and Mancini do not get on. The Argentinean has questioned Mancini’s motives, skill, style and training methods at every opportunity. Tevez has openly criticised Craig Bellamy’s loan transfer to Cardiff City, the duo have argued through many a half time interval, and most recently Tevez showed just exactly how little respect he has for his manager when he was substituted against Bolton at the start of the month.

Mancini can now successfully argue that the players he inherited from Mark Hughes were of poor temperament and that he should be given a little more time to deal with the egos in his camp, although he must answer for the impending time bomb that is Mario Balotelli.

Manchester City’s aim for this season will still be a top four finish, but with Garry Cooke leaving Joorabchian on the outside of the tent looking in, it would seem as if Mancini has an unlikely ally on the board.

The club have made it clear that there is only one route left for Tevez now. He will not be allowed to leave the club in January and City will sue him for breach of contract if he retires, so if he wants to play football it will only be in sky blue.

For Tevez, the road back will be an easy one albeit most probably without the captains armband. So far this season he has scored 10 goals in 15 league games and has the remarkable record of 39 goals in 58 games over the last two seasons.

This is the only way he will regain the trust of the City fans, many of whom are calling for the club to make a stand against player power by dropping Tevez to the bench for the rest of his career.

If he can come back and show some sort of form it won’t be long before Mancini moves him on only to replace him with his own player.

Leaving the club looks distinctly unlikely despite clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Inter Milan, and AC Milan becoming interested in the want away player.

The way forward for Manchester City will become clearer over the next weeks and months.

If they back Tevez, the omens are bad for all and sundry associated with the club and they will never amount to much.

However, if they put their faith in their manager and deal with the Tevez incident properly they will have passed their first real test on the road to becoming the dominating force in English football.

This article was previously featured on Tiger Beer Football, where Willie Gannon is the featured Blogger. Over 18s only.