Sir Alex Ferguson’s Carlos Tevez verdict puts Man Utd exit claims in new light

Carlos Tevez has made new claims over his Manchester United exit. Do they actually stack up?

Former Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez has hit out over his departure from Manchester United, but it does not reflect well on the Argentine.

Tevez told Rio Ferdinand Presents: “Fergie told me, “Carlos, now I’m going to pay out your contract and you’re going to stay in Manchester. I think that Ferguson had, from the day we talked in Los Angeles up to six months to keep his word.

“And he didn’t. On the contrary, he started leaving me on the bench. In my head. He started pushing me aside so he could bring down what I was worth. And that’s what hurt me the most.”

The timeline of Carlos Tevez’s departure

• Summer 2008:

  Tevez claims Ferguson gave him his word he would sign him permanently

• Early 2009:

  Ferguson claims to have verbally given Tevez an offer – with no response

• Summer 2009:

  United’s attempts to contact Tevez are blocked, he signs for City

Ferguson claims on Tevez exit

Sir Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports in 2009 that he knew Tevez would quit when his attempts to discuss a deal mid-season were knocked back.

He said: “I half expected that a long time back. Maybe in January because I spoke to him and gave him an offer, I think it was on Inter Milan night and he never came back to me.

“I rang him on holiday, texted him twice and he never got back to me, so he had made his mind up.”

Tevez gave up on his United future mid-season

While Ferguson and Tevez did not align on his future, their respective comments do stack up to build a timeline of events.

Tevez claimed Ferguson pledged to secure his future early in the 2008 season, after signing Dimitar Berbatov, and set a self-imposed deadline of ‘six months’ for United to sign him permanently.

What is not clear is whether he actually communicated his own demand to United. It appears he did not, with the Red Devils still attempting to close a deal at the end of the 2009 season. United felt there was no urgency, and this was a costly mistake.

Ferguson’s comments show that Tevez had already decided by the middle of the 2008/09 season, that he would be leaving United the following year. This lack of commitment did not go unnoticed by Ferguson, creating a vicious circle in terms of his importance to the team.

While Tevez suggested his role in the team was diminished through United trying to lower his value, Ferguson saw a player who had not committed his future to the team.

Ferguson’s damning ‘playing for himself’ jibe

Sir Alex Ferguson revealed in his autobiography that he was unimpressed with Tevez’s performance in the 2009 Champions League Final, a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in Rome.

He said: “I brought Tevez on at half-time [in the 2009 Champions League final] and just felt he was playing for himself a little bit. From what I could gather, he had already made his mind up before joining City.”

Reflecting on the huge fee City paid for Tevez, Ferguson added disapprovingly: “To me he was an impact player.”

Despite appearing to check out mentally over his United future, Tevez still scored seven goals between January 2009 and the end of the season.