January Transfer Rumours: 8 Possible Destinations for Carlos Tévez

As we saw over the weekend during their 6-1 stunner of a win over Manchester United, Manchester City is not exactly struggling for attacking talent. Mario "Why Always Me" Balotelli has returned to form and was potentially on track to score a hat trick, Edin Džeko accompanied with another brace, silencing doubters who thought he would flame out several months into the season and, of course, there's Sergio Agüero. 

The presence of these players only galvanizes the need for Manchester City to get rid of want-away striker Carlos Tévez, who has world-class potential when he is on form but hasn't exactly had the ideal season so far at Eastlands. He struggled with depression and binge-eating, and his persistent troubled relationship with the club and its management came to a head when he reportedly refused to come on as a substitute in City's Champions League loss to Bayern Munich. 

It is almost a certainty that Tévez will leave Eastlands in January; it's just a matter of where he'll go. A number of clubs have expressed interest and then pulled out, among them his former club West Ham United and Emirati power Al-Wasl. Nevertheless, there are a handful of clubs still quite interested in the itinerant striker. Here are a few possible January destinations—and as always, if you have any thoughts about where you'd like to see Tévez end up, please tell us in the comments. 

Málaga

One early possibility that has been raised in discussion is a stint at a newly-minted Málaga, a.k.a. The Island* of Misfit Superstars. The La Liga club, which finished last season on the verge of breaking into the top half, is in the midst of a sea change thanks to an influx of capital and personnel engineered by new owner Sheikh Al-Thani. 

If signed, he would join an influx of new signings to the Andalusian side, including former Manchester United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy and Bayern Munich centre-back Martín Demichelis. Although Málaga has plenty of strikers, most are either pushing the end of their careers (van Nistelrooy, Edinho) or are just starting out and need more time to develop (José Salomón, Juanmi Jiménez). Tévez is the kind of formidable force who could help bridge the gap and buy time for the team's younger talent to grow.

*Málaga is not actually on an island. 

Tottenham Hotspur

A move to White Hart Lane worked to revitalize the career of another firebrand, want-away Manchester City striker—Emmanuel Adebayor—this season. Perhaps Carlos Tévez can repeat the success of his resurgent contemporary. 

And Harry Redknapp seems to think so, too. The Tottenham Hotspur manager told the press that even with the striker's noted attitude problems, he would be happy to welcome him to White Hart Lane on a loan spell if the move were cost-effective. And Spurs may need to add a striker in the rotation if Giovani Dos Santos and Roman Pavlyuchenko leave as expected in January. 

As Redknapp was quoted as saying:

"I would take him if he were available for sure, warts and all. Who wouldn't? If Manchester City want to let me have him on loan and massively subsidize it, I'll take him tomorrow. Say what you like, but he's a world-class player, and you can't say he doesn't work his socks off when he plays."

Boca Juniors

Another emergent possibility is the return of Carlos Tévez to the team where he began his career: Argentine juggernauts Boca Juniors. 

Tévez is a product of Boca's youth academy and joined the senior squad in 2001, helping lead the Azul y Oro to Copa Sudamericana, Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup victories in 2003. He stayed with the club until 2005, when he signed with Brazilian side Corinthians for a then-record-breaking £6.85 million. 

And it looks as though Boca Juniors may be willing to bring their old boy back, especially with star starting striker Lucas Viatri out with a long-term injury.

Boca Juniors vice-president Jose Beraldi was quoted in an ESPN report earlier this month as saying: "We'll make an attempt to get Carlos Tévez. I know it will be difficult, but we will try."

Paris Saint-Germain

Like Málaga, Paris Saint-Germain has emerged as a newly cash-flush and ready-to-buy economic power on the football transfers front. The club is reportedly interested in making a January bid for Tévez to supplement another high-profile striker signing: 22-year-old breakout Palermo striker Javier Pastore, who PSG bought for £40 million at the end of the summer transfer window. Since joining the club, Pastore has already scored five goals in seven appearances. 

With both Pastore and Tévez fixtures on the Argentine national team (Pastore primarily as an impact sub), it could be argued the shared experience could also benefit PSG: The two are used to similar playing styles from their international experience, have played alongside each other and could potentially complement one another well.

Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho's side has emerged as one of the big names in the running for Tévez. Speculation about a Real Madrid January bid for the striker began circling the rumor mill earlier this month, spurring from a Footybunker.com report involving a player swap.

In earlier reports, defensive midfielder Sami Khedira was named as the rumored party who would be offered to Manchester City, but as Khedira has experienced a return to form and reasserted his place in the first team in recent performances, Mourinho may be looking to give away winger Angel Di María and some cash instead. But with the recent addition of Samir Nasri and James Milner excelling on the wing as of late, it seems unlikely City would bring on another winger, unless Adam Johnson heads to Liverpool or Arsenal, in which case Di María could be brought on as a backup.

Corinthians

Will they or won't they? Another one of Tévez's former clubs, Corinthians, initially emerged as the front-runner to bring him on after Manchester City and Tévez himself expressed interest in returning to the club over the summer when his falling-out with City began.

And from the looks of it, Corinthians would be happy to bring him back, especially now if his value at City and the club's asking price have both decreased. Corinthians Director of Football Edu has said that Tévez would be a fan favorite and a welcome return to the club, and the high-profile signing would be good for them.

As Edu told Sky Sports News: "I will talk to the President. We offered £40 million, and now the money we had we have spent some of as that is football. We want to see how Tévez is and what his situation is, we will see if we can do a deal. He is very famous in Brazil and everyone loves him, and the fans want him."

Inter Milan

There was a rumor from back in August about Inter Milan preparing to launch a player-swap with Manchester City, giving them fullback Maicon in exchange for Tévez. City reportedly turned down the move in August, seeing the deal as uneven.

Now, a series of rather dubious reports citing Italian agent Antonio Caliendo as a source say that Inter Milan may attempt the exchange again, and with the Nerazzurri's season so far looking rather precarious and Tévez more prepared to leave than ever, the resurfacing of those rumors is sort of understandable.

However, Maicon says he doesn't want to leave Inter Milan and this rumor has grown a bit stale, so this one seems like significantly more of a longshot. As he told Inter Channel (h/t goal.com): "I have never thought about leaving Inter. There have been people saying that I will be leaving, but there is nothing true regarding me and the transfer market. I am happy at Inter, but often things that are not true about my future come out. I am happy here."

Anzhi Makhachkala

This probably seems on the surface like another one of Suleyman Kerimov's outlandish bid campaigns, but there is something of a real possibility buried underneath all of the sound bites and speculation. The truth of the matter is, considering Tévez will still come with a sizable price tag, Anzhi may be one of only a few clubs that can actually afford to bring him on.

Of course, for someone who pines for home as much as Tévez has a tendency to, and considering how much greater the distance is between Argentina and Dagestan than Argentina and Manchester, this move is seriously inconsistent with Tévez's demands and priorities.