Manchester City are trying to hijack the bid by Juventus to sign Sergio Agüero, the highly regarded Atlético Madrid and Argentina striker, as Carlos Tévez formally announced his intention to leave the club last night.
The Times understands that City hope to persuade Agüero to move to Manchester either as a replacement or strike partner for Tévez, his compatriot.
The City captain issued a statement last night in which he claimed that it was with “great regret” that he had informed the club of his wish to go, but insisted that his decision stemmed from a desire to spend more time with his two daughters, who live with his former partner in Buenos Aires.
“I hope that the people understand the difficult circumstances I have been living under the past 12 months, in regards to my family,” Tévez said. “Living without my children in Manchester has been incredibly challenging for me.
“Everything I do, I do for my daughters, Katie and Florencia. I need to be closer to them and to spend more time with them. I need them to be happy because my life is about them now. I need to be in a place where they can adapt.”
Advertisement
The news will have come as little surprise to City and Roberto Mancini, their manager, who have been planning for the prospect of life without Tévez since he submitted and then withdrew a transfer request last December. With no offers forthcoming for the Argentina striker, though, his latest declaration does little to alter his situation.
City want between £40 million and £50 million for Tévez, who earns more than £230,000 a week and has three years left to run on his contract. The club are unwilling to sell him for a knockdown fee, especially at a time when they are trying to get their finances in order in light of the introduction of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules from next season.
Juventus were originally thought to be keen on Tévez but switched their sights to Agüero, in whom the Serie A club’s interest is so strong that City believe that they could miss out on the player unless they move quickly.
Juventus officials are due in Madrid this week with a view to striking a deal, but City are looking to muscle in, with the club hoping to make some serious headway before the squad leaves on Friday for the start of their pre-season tour to the United States and Canada.
Agüero, 23, has a €45 million release clause (about £40.6 million) in his contract, but while City and Juventus would ordinarily hope to secure a deal for less, the interest of both parties is likely to keep the price high.
Advertisement
It is not implausible that if City win the race for Agüero, Juventus could rekindle their interest in Tévez.
Atlético are resigned to losing Agüero this summer after the striker stated publicly his intention to leave the Vicenté Calderón stadium. Privately, Agüero is thought to favour a move to Real Madrid, but Atlético have ruled out the possibility of selling their most prized asset to their cross-city rivals.
Chelsea have also had a longstanding interest in Agüero, who is married to the youngest daughter of Diego Maradona, the former Argentina captain and coach.
Agüero, who has scored 102 goals in 234 appearances for Atlético since joining the Spanish club from Independiente in 2006, is regarded as one of the most exciting young strikers in the world. He came off the substitutes’ bench to rescue a point for Argentina in a 1-1 draw against Bolivia in their opening group A game of the Copa América last Friday. Tévez is also a part of the Argentina squad.
If City signed Agüero and Tévez was not sold, it would heighten the need for the club to offload surplus strikers, such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz, Craig Bellamy, Jô and Felipe Caicedo. to help to finance a move for Agüero, given the limits that will be placed by Financial Fair Play.
Advertisement
After being frustrated in their attempts to sign Alexis Sánchez, the Udinese and Chile winger, who is wanted by Barcelona and Chelsea, City concluded one transfer deal last night by signing Gaël Clichy from Arsenal for an initial fee of £7 million that could rise to £9 million. The left back signed a four-year contract worth about £90,000 a week after passing a medical yesterday.