Source: Team_Talk
Theatrical Tevez may have to strike
TEAMtalk's Jon Holmes believes Carlos Tevez will have to consider strike action again if he is to engineer a move away from Manchester City.[LNB] It's unlikely that Carlos Tevez will be browsing VisitManchester.com any time soon, having already declared in a recent television chat show interview in his homeland that the city "has nothing" to offer.[LNB]However, if he did venture on to 'the official destination website for Manchester', he would find that an exhibition has just opened at The Lowry that looks right up his street.[LNB]'Warhol And The Diva' puts an artistic focus on "the glamorous lifestyles of some of the world's performance elite" - a category the Argentina striker, who earns upwards of £250,000 a week, surely falls into.[LNB]Diva does not seem too strong a word to describe Tevez; there is something almost operatic about his ongoing dilemma. Forever centre stage in a drama of his own making, he consistently hits the high notes and rightfully earns huge acclaim from his audience. But behind the scenes, stormy relationships, greed and his own enormous ego continue to torment him.[LNB]Under the terms of his City contract, the show is scheduled to go on for another three years - unless Tevez decides to go on strike.[LNB]It's impossible not to feel sympathy for a man who misses his young daughters so much, even if the pay packet provides considerable compensation. Since the season ended, Tevez has been able to spend plenty of time with six-year-old Florencia and Katie, born prematurely in early 2010, and he cannot bear the thought of being away from them again for weeks on end. In his statement released on Monday night, he said: "Everything I do, I do for my daughters... I need them to be happy because my life is about them now. I need to be in a place where they can adapt."[LNB]Only two weeks ago, Tevez's adviser Kia Joorabchian was quoted as saying he was optimistic about the chances of the striker persuading his on-off partner Vanesa to move back to Manchester. Their relationship may have been patched up, but it sounds like she is in no hurry to follow him 7,000 miles across the Atlantic. Mrs Mansilla has put her foot down. Maybe Madrid, maybe Milan, but certainly not Manchester.[LNB]One ultimatum leads to another, and with around one month to go before Tevez is due back at Carrington (his pre-season will be delayed due to Argentina's Copa America campaign), City are left in a predicament. How much bigger can their star performer's strop get?[LNB]A fee of £45million and colossal wage demands mean there will be relatively few interested parties in the market for Tevez. Real Madrid are favourites in the betting for his signature, but there is little to be heard on the matter from Jose Mourinho's lot so far. Some sort of swap deal involving Atletico's Sergio Aguero might suit most parties, if only Tevez agreed to a significant wage cut. A trade involving Samuel Eto'o was briefly discussed with Inter Milan. However, there is no obvious outcome for this transfer saga. City have known for several months that the 27-year-old would prefer to leave, so in truth his latest statement is just another sign on the walk to the departure gate.[LNB]However, this time, Tevez is already where he wants to be - in Buenos Aires, with his family all around him. He has already gone on strike once before in his career, when Joorabchian engineered his move from Corinthians to West Ham after the 2006 World Cup. Up until now, at Eastlands, such an option has always been given short shrift out of respect for City's fans and owner Sheikh Mansoor - respect that was repeated on Monday. But there was also a finality about the closing remarks - 'I hope I have done my bit to help City continue their progress towards their ambition to be champions of England... I have no doubt that the players and management of City will achieve great success in the future' - that suggests, in Tevez's own mind, his involvement with the City project is already over.[LNB]The weather forecast for Manchester looks gloomy for the rest of the week. Grey clouds and rain. The temperature may be higher in the north-west of England than in Argentina at present, but if Tevez truly values the warm welcome of his family above riches and huge billboards - and Vanesa proves implacable - there is only one option left. Once a diva's mind is made up, there's no going back.
