Manchester City: How Desperately Do They Need Carlos Tevez to Stay?

With nearly every leading newspaper, blogging website and sports media source constantly speculating on the future of Carlos Tevez, I decided to evaluate his importance to the team.

The current Manchester City captain is without doubt their most influential player. When he plays, you can expect the 'Sky Blues' to do the unthinkable. Without him, with players like Dzeko leading the attack, they look rather ordinary.

Tevez shares the dressing room with many other strikers in the club, but none of them give the team the sort of assurance that the Argentinian is capable of providing. From the extremely temperamental Balotelli to the highly inconsistent Dzeko, Manchester City can not boast of a very effective backup for their skipper.

Tevez is a true professional. I say this because he seems far from happy playing for his current employers, and yet when he goes out on the field, he plays with such great passion and a sense of freedom that you almost get attracted to him even as an opponent.

In the first meeting of Chelsea and Manchester City after the entire Wayne Bridge and Carlos Tevez bust up, the game started at a slow pace, and it was really Tevez's "head against head" moment with John Terry that got me really intrigued about the match. I still believe it was one of the major factors that led to Manchester City waking up in the game and beating Chelsea on their home ground.

Carlos Tevez is a dream striker, as he has strength, poise, dribbling ability and a demon right foot, coupled with a gift of finding the right pass even in pressure situations. Any team in the world would be lucky to have his services. Although he can be tough to handle for the management, he has this childlike desire to be out there and play every minute of every match that really impresses me.

Diego Maradona's assessment of Tevez as Argentina's most important player, even above Lionel Messi, is a testament to the player's abilities.

I can't imagine any player in the world who can fill the void that Tevez's exit could make, since he is not just a player, he is a leader both on and off the field.

A club that is aspiring to challenge for top honors next season cannot afford to sell their trump card, and Roberto Mancini must ensure that he does everything in his powers to ensure that Carlos Tevez remains at the Eastlands for many years to come.