The TimesApril 24, 2009 Rafael Benitez launches bold bid to bring Carlos Tevez to Anfield Carlos Tevez is unlikely to be at Old Trafford next season and Liverpool and keen to recruit him Oliver Kay, Football Correspondent Rafael BenÃtez is preparing to antagonise Sir Alex Ferguson once more with an audacious bid to sign Carlos Tévez. The Argentina forward is increasingly resigned to leaving Manchester United at the end of the season, with Real Madrid his most likely destination. BenÃtez has signalled Liverpool’s willingness to join Chelsea, Manchester City and Inter Milan in the mêlée for his signature. Ferguson has not yet given up hope of retaining Tévez’s services after his complicated two-year lease arrangement expires at the end of the season, but the forward’s growing discontent means that he will consider a move away from Old Trafford — even if United manage to reach an agreement with the companies that hold his economic rights. Tévez, who joined United in a controversial move from West Ham United in August 2007, would be likely to cost any other club more than the £22 million that United have to pay at the end of the season to turn the player’s loan into a permanent deal. BenÃtez, though, is determined to test the water. Should Tevez swap United for Liverpool The Spaniard knows that United have no control over Tévez if and when he leaves Old Trafford and that the Barclays Premier League leaders would not receive any money, with the transfer fee instead going to the companies, headed by Kia Joorabchian, that own the player’s economic rights. Tévez, 25, is frustrated at his loss of favour since Dimitar Berbatov’s arrival at Old Trafford from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, having not started any of United’s four matches in the Champions League knockout phase. Madrid are favourites to sign Tévez should he end his two-year stint at United, with Florentino Pérez, who is expected to be elected Real’s new president next month, confident of delivering the forward as part of a wide-reaching rebuilding operation that is expected to include a world-record bid for Cristiano Ronaldo, the United forward. But Liverpool have registered their interest in signing Tévez if he wishes to stay in England — and if the price is right. Tévez declared in an interview with an Argentine radio station this week that “in my situation, an exit [from United] will be the best solution†and that “there are other options for next seasonâ€, citing interest from Real and Inter as well as other clubs, of which there are now three in England monitoring the situation. Ferguson, the United manager, would bristle at the idea of the forward joining just about any of the interested clubs. He blocked Gabriel Heinze’s proposed move to Liverpool in August 2007 and said of Real this season that he “wouldn’t sell that mob a virusâ€. As revealed in The Times a week ago, Tévez concluded that his future lay away from United after being dropped for the 1-0 victory away to Porto in the Champions League quarter-final, second leg. His sense of injustice is shared by some of his team-mates and certainly by the club’s supporters, who cheered his name loudly when the substitutes were announced before the 2-0 Premier League victory over Portsmouth on Wednesday — in contrast to Berbatov, whose name was booed by an audible minority. These are issues that Ferguson could do without, having shown several signs of tetchiness in recent weeks even as his team continue their defence of the Premier League and Champions League titles. He has been at odds with BenÃtez since January and the Liverpool manager continued the verbal jousting yesterday. BenÃtez insisted that he had been right to stand up to his United counterpart and that Liverpool are the better team on form, even though they trail by three points in the title race, having played a game more. “I’m not having a battle of words with Alex Ferguson,†BenÃtez said in an interview with a Spanish newspaper. “But I believe that he can see that we are the better side and that we’re very close to United. He has been playing these kind of mind games for many years. Nobody has ever said anything against him or stood up to him. It seems like he has a licence to do these sort of things. “I try not to talk too much, but all I can do when I speak is to defend my own team. I did not say that he seems frightened, but I said that he looks nervous as he can see that we are very close to his team.†http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article6157813.ece I'd just love this to be true, if only to p!ss off purple nose
Have always hoped it would happen Charlie,a partnership of him working with Nando gets the juices flowing.
We paid £20m for Robbie Keane and he's 28 or 29, Tevez is only 25 and if we got him for £22m I think we'd be doing allright
Completely agree, i think this could all be complete nonsense but i think if we got rid of Babel for close to 10/12 million and paid 22 for tevez we'd have done a great bit of business! Could be just trying to force fergie's hand on the issue!
Yeah fair point Charmac! Was more thinking along the lines of will we have that much to spend in the summer with the way things are going. Suppose if we sell off a few players, babel probably being top of the list along with Dossena not being far behind him.
i don,t no lads,i,d hate the taught of a manc playing for us...he wouldn,t be 1st choice with us either with stevie G and torres up front,i,d rather see a good winger coming to liverpool for the money there talking about...
personally id rather 22 million spent elsewhere. on a winger like silva. but i would definetly take tevez just to annoy whiskey nose
true enough but if silva was able to do it in the PL then he would be an automatic choice in the starting 11. tevez for me wouldnt be an automatic choice in the line up.
if he did play with torres up front i say stevie g could be back playing on the right which would be a balls!
yeh but he wont play u front with torres. stevie will play behind torres and tevez would be on the bench then.
he is one of the mancs I dont mind... are they are a scarce breed... can't see it happening but I would love to get under their skin!!
actually it would be fantastic as if we did pay 20mill + that shower would not get a single penny would they.
i dont rate him to be honest ok he works hard , but hasnt scored many , plus he's an ugly **** sell babel and use the 20mil and babel money and get e'too
There is a problem with this thread and that is the title. Rafa launches bid? Oliver Kay what does he know! Personally I have hugely respected Teves ever since he was the player who kept West Ham in the Premiership in the season 2006/7. Remember his wonderful performances against Spurs and his goal against the Mancs in the run in that season. I actually think that if Rafa is interested in Teves (1 of the 95 players?) it would really p**s off the Mancs fans much more than their manager. The fans love Teves in a way that they will never love Berbatov. Teves is a the type of player that Benitez loves he is a box to box battler that always gives 100% and for this reason I think he would be a great signing.