Tevez: 'Excited' by move
United set to sign Tevez
After securing West Ham's Premiership survival by scoring against
Manchester United on the final day of last season, Carlos Tevez is
about to be given the chance to find the Old Trafford net on a
regular basis by becoming Sir Alex Ferguson's fourth multimillion
pound signing of the summer. The 23-year-old striker is currently
on duty with Argentina at the Copa America in Venezuela but it is
believed that his representatives are finalising the details of his
departure from West Ham, with whom he's understood to have a
contract until 2010. The fee is believed to be around £20m, though
neither Manchester United nor West Ham would confirm that talks are
in progress.
Tevez arrived at West Ham amid much fanfare last summer but
initially failed to live up to expectations. However, even when his
efforts were not bearing fruit, he refused to become discouraged
and his determination to succeed when many of his team-mates looked
listless made him a favourite with Hammers fans. Eventually, he was
rewarded with goals, bagging seven in the club's last 10
games.
United have already bolstered their attacking power this summer by
signing Portugal winger Nani and left-sided Brazilian raider
Anderson. But with continued uncertainty over Louis Saha's fitness
and the expected departure of Alan Smith, the club is eager to
recruit another striker, someone who can be trusted to
systematically convert the abundant chances the side is likely to
create.
Many observers feel Tevez, who has only scored four goals in 25
appearances for Argentina, does not fit that bill, and that he
prefers to rampage all over the final third of the pitch in a style
more akin to Wayne Rooney, meaning that if the two were to be
paired together, the attack may still lack a focal point. However,
Ferguson is of the opinion that, even if the Argentinian is not a
'fox-in-the-box', his pace, power, intelligence and instinct mean
he will combine well with United's other attackers and plunder
plenty of goals, even if many opportunities are spurned for want of
a specialist poacher.
Tevez was once fined when playing for Brazil's Corinthians for
turning up to an official press conference wearing a Manchester
United shirt.
