Manchester City – Has Tevez ‘Pulled a Rooney’?

Carlos Tevez’s switch from Manchester United to fierce local rivals, Manchester City was billed as the symbolic switch of footballing power in the North-West. And City knew it, demonstrated by the infamous “Welcome to Manchester” billboard erected on his arrival.

But after the Argentinean forward handed in a written transfer request at the club, just hours after helping them draw level with Premier League pace-setters, Arsenal, is this the initial sign of alleged fracture within the dressing room, that had been threatening to spill out for weeks, or something else?

There had been rumblings over the former West Ham player’s content at Eastlands recently, after an interview with the club website revealed he was suffering from homesickness, stemming from his distress at being separated from his two daughters back in Argentina.

Bullish statements from the club and staff desperately denied that their talisman wanted out, but it appears that the deterioration in his relationship with manager, Roberto Mancini has pushed him pushed him to breaking point.

However, this morning’s statement from City hints at a Wayne Rooney-style ploy for a bumper deal at the club, pointing the finger explicitly at the player’s representative.

The statement read, “The club remains disappointed by this situation and particularly with the actions of Carlos’ representative.

“The written transfer request is in stark contrast to Carlos’ stated position in both public and club contexts.

“Significantly, over recent months, the club has also received numerous requests from Carlos’ representative to renegotiate and improve his playing contract as well as more recently a request to extend that contract by another year”.

City had been hoping to offer the twenty six year old a lucrative deal worth in excess of £200,000 a week for five years in the summer, but operate a policy of not negotiating player contracts mid-season.

It had been thought that Yaya Toure was the highest paid player at Eastlands, following his move from Barcelona, with some reports putting his weekly wage at £220,000. But this morning’s statement has Tevez as “the highest paid player at the Manchester City Football Club”.

So with Tevez supposedly already out-earning his colleagues at City, have the club got it wrong? Is this a genuine plea for a return home?

BBC Radio 5 Live’s Ian Dennis believes that Tevez misses his homeland. “The striker is believed to be homesick and over the past couple of months there have been suggestions he’s quitting football altogether.

“In a recent television interview he said he was tired of football and tired of people who work in football”.

I suspect that things will become clearer in the upcoming days, but after airing his desire to depart the club on the grounds of homesickness, should he sign a bumper deal at the club, or even move to the continent, he faces entering a perilous cycle of cynicism, as a former United teammate has found out.

The shock news came on a day of, what was celebration for City, after leap-frogging city rivals, United in the table following a comfortable 3-1 win at West Ham, in which Tevez was ruled out through injury.

Just days before, Mancini challenged his players to “try to win without Carlos Tevez”, on the impression that his side were over-dependent on the forward. Now the exact extent to which City depend on Tevez will be shown, as they are left with the decision to either beg their star striker to stay, or take the moral high ground and refuse to be held ransom to his agent’s demands.

Controversy seems to follow Tevez around, and has a habit of provoking a reaction wherever he goes. It was his transfer, along with compatriot Javier Mascherano, from Corinthians to West Ham that sparked a long drawn out court case investigating the legality of third party ownership in the Premier League.

The Hammers were eventually fined £5.5million for signing players part owned by agent, Kia Joorabchian’s MSI company, and both players found themselves moving North; Mascherano to Liverpool and Tevez to Manchester United.

League and European glory came Tevez’s way during his time at Old Trafford, but the club signed Dimitar Berbatov for a club record fee of £30.75million, and ‘El Apache’s’ days at United were effectively numbered.

Sir Alex Ferguson did offer him a five-year contract at the club, but could not guarantee Tevez’s inclusion ahead of Berbatov. And so in an act of revenge on Tevez’s part, and one-upmanship on City’s, he joined United’s biggest rivals in a deal worth £32million.

Many will ask, given his history, whether he is worth the bother. But you cannot underestimate the value of Tevez to City.

At times, he has carried his side single-handedly this season and has been rewarded with the captain’s armband at Eastlands. Thirty-nine goals in sixty games is a particularly generous return for player whose goals have not always been his prime attribute.

His work-rate adds steel and grit to a side severely lacking it in other areas and should City lose Tevez, he will be sorely missed.

As much as Rooney played on his importance at United to secure an improved deal, Tevez is arguably in an even stronger position at City.

As mentioned, on the pitch, Tevez has more than displayed his worth. But it is off the pitch where the threat of his departure has impact. Because as big a statement as his switch across the city was, his departure would be bigger.