Fergie rift forced City move
CARLOS TEVEZ celebrated the completion of his £25.5m move to Manchester City yesterday – with a parting shot at former boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Argentina international joined a rare bread of players to cross the Manchester divide after rejecting United’s offer to upgrade his loan deal to a permanent move in favour of a five-year contract with City.
But Tevez then turned the tables on Ferguson, insisting he only joined their arch-rivals because the United boss didn’t do enough to persuade him to keep him at Old Trafford.
“The fact that I am not staying at United is not because of the fans, it is because Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill did not do enough to keep me there,” Tevez said at his City press conference yesterday. “If it was down to the fans, I would still be there.
“I was there for two years and Sir Alex never called or sent any text messages in that time. The only time he talked to me was after a match against Roma to discuss about going to play for Argentina. It doesn’t seem that this is the way to treat a player in two years at the club. It doesn’t seem there is a line of communication.”
Tevez looks set to be joined at Eastlands today by Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who is understood to be attending a work permit hearing in Manchester today ahead of a proposed £25m transfer.
Adebayor’s signing would take City’s summer spending to £80m following the captures of Tevez, Gareth Barry and Roque Santa Cruz – the kind of business which convinces Tevez that he made the right move in opting for City. “They have really shown to me that they want to become one of the biggest clubs in the world,” he added. “This made it very easy to make the move. I am very happy to be here.”
City boss Mark Hughes, meanwhile, refused to discuss the Adebayor deal, only to confirm that contact had been made with Arsenal. “There has been discussions between ourselves and Arsenal,” Hughes said. “It is not the right time or place to discuss it but yes, there has been contact and possibly there is a deal to be done. It has not been concluded as we speak. Until it happens, it is not the time or the place to talk about it.”
City are also expected to launch an estimated £40m bid for Chelsea captain John Terry this week, but Hughes again stopped short of confirming a new offer was imminent.
“He is a great player and an outstanding captain,” he added. “Any manager would covet a player of John Terry’s calibre but at this moment he’s a Chelsea player and we have to respect that.”