SOCCER:MANCHESTER CITY will want at least €56 million for Carlos Tevez to cushion the expected blow of losing their captain this summer and help put together a transfer strategy designed to establish them as authentic title challengers next season.
City are increasingly convinced that Tevez will ask to leave and, if their fears are confirmed, the FA Cup finalists are adamant it will happen only on their terms, and that means extracting the best potential value for a 27-year-old who has scored 51 times in 82 games for the club and still has three years remaining on his contract.
Fernando Torres’s €56 million move from Liverpool to Chelsea has set a benchmark, with City no longer appearing to have the appetite to persuade Tevez to change his mind, as they did when he put in a transfer request last December. Instead, City’s top-level management now consider it almost inevitable and are reluctantly planning for a future without the Argentinian on condition that he joins Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kaka as the only footballers on the planet to command transfer fees of €56 million or more.
A fee of that size means only an elite band of clubs would be able to afford Tevez, particularly when also taking into account his enormous salary demands. Internazionale, prominently linked with the former Manchester United striker, could conceivably have the funds, especially if they sell Wesley Sneijder. Real Madrid are another candidate while Chelsea are monitoring Tevez’s potential availability through the network of agents associated with the club and player.
The priority for City if, as looks increasingly likely, a move is arranged will be to find a suitable replacement and the club have already held a series of meetings with Udinese about Alexis Sanchez, as well as speaking to representatives of the Chile international. Sanchez, however, is on the radar of several other clubs, including United and Madrid.
The 22-year-old is also more established as a wide player and, if City were successful, it is not necessarily the case that he would be the only attacker the club try to sign. Sanchez could feasibly be more of a replacement for Shaun Wright-Phillips, whose long association with City will end at the end of the season.
Roberto Mancini, the City manager, also wants another centre-half and Gary Cahill of Bolton Wanderers has featured prominently in their early discussions. Mancini ideally wants someone with experience of playing in the Premier League, mindful of the difficulties Aleksandar Kolarov and Jerome Boateng have encountered since signing last summer. Boateng is a possible target for Bayern Munich.
The threat of a long ban for Kolo Toure, suspended by the club after being found to have taken an illegal substance, has also increased Mancini’s desire to strengthen that part of his team, and Bolton’s financial issues make it extremely unlikely they would turn down a bid in the region of €22 million.
The priority for City, however, will be to establish Tevez’s frame of mind before finalising their targets for what promises to be another extensive recruitment programme. The club have to balance trying to put together a title-winning squad with meeting Uefa’s fair-play regulations and an exodus of players will include Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy once their loan spells with Madrid and Cardiff City have expired.
