City To Demand £50 Million For Tevez
5 July 2011, 09:17 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50
Manchester City want £50 million for Carlos Tevez to get his wish and leave Eastlands.
City officials have responded to Tevez's latest attempt to sever ties with the club with a resigned shrug.
The Blues hierarchy were anticipating such a move and, given the bad blood which exists between Tevez's trusted advisor Kia Joorabchian and City chief executive Garry Cook and director of football Brian Marwood, it came as no surprise that it was delivered on the day a £7million transfer for Gael Clichy was completed and Partizan Belgrade skipper Stefan Savic arrived for a medical.
Whilst Tevez has said the main reason he wants to leave to spend more time with his two daughters and wife Vanesa, City believe it is a smokescreen, despite their acceptance domestic life has not been easy for the South American during four years in Manchester.
There has been no official response to last night's announcement from a player currently appearing for Argentina at the Copa America, and it seems there is unlikely to be so just yet.
For City are relaxed in the knowledge that Tevez has three years remaining on a contract that is estimated to be worth in excess of £200,000-a-week.
It means they have no reason to allow their skipper to leave on the cheap, and have absolutely no intention of doing so.
At a stroke, the figures involved cut down the number of potential suitors to around half a dozen, some of which have not shown any desire to bid for the player.
Barcelona for instance are currently haggling with Udinese over a price for City target Alexis Sanchez, whilst Chelsea have other areas of the field to address, having already splashed out £50million on Fernando Torres in January.
Both Milan clubs and Real Madrid might be more likely to do a deal and Juventus have previously expressed an interest, even if that would mean Tevez giving up the prospect of Champions League football once more, having spent two years trying to qualify for Europe's number one club competition with City.
It raises the potential for Tevez having to stay in the north-west, although, either way, there is unlikely to be a speedy resolution to an impasse it is difficult to see being resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.
Tevez said:
'I would like to state that I have great respect for the club, its supporters and the owner, Sheikh Mansour, who has been nothing other than respectful to me,
'I hope that the people understand the difficult circumstances I have been living under the past 12 months, in regards to my family.
'Living without my children in Manchester has been incredibly challenging for me. Everything I do, I do for my daughters, Katie and Florencia. I need to be closer to them and to spend more time with them.
'I need them to be happy because my life is about them now. I need to be in a place where they can adapt.''
Meanwhile, 20-year-old Montenegrin Savic would now appear to be in the final stages of his move, although the deal is likely to be delayed slightly as City attempt to secure a work permit for the defender.
