Who will be next I wonder. Rio Ferdinand to head for the exit, Wayne Rooney turning up at Manchester City?
Of course neither of those things are likely to happen but it has to be a very unusual situation for Manchester United to have two of their superstars leaving the club in the same summer.
Goodbye
Firstly Cristiano Ronaldo announces that he is leaving for Real Madrid and now Carlos Tevez is saying goodbye to Old Trafford and will start a bidding war between the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City.
I think everyone pretty much agrees that Sir Alex Ferguson was OK about losing Ronaldo. He had wanted to leave twelve months earlier and although still brilliant, he sulked and scoured his way through the season and never reached the same previous heights he had set for himself. The idea of keeping him again against his will can’t have been particularly appetising.
Five year deal
With Carlos Tevez, the situation appears to be different. We are led to believe that United offered every penny of the twenty-five million pounds needed to keep him and offered Tevez a five year contract that would make him one of the club’s top earners. That suggests that SAF wanted to keep him, but still he has decided to move on.
Cristiano Ronaldo was loved and admired by the United fans but he never quite earned himself a position deep in their hearts. A mixture of his part in getting Wayne Rooney sent off in the 2006 World Cup, his constant diving and moaning and his public desire to move away from the club all meant that he was never a real favourite.
Carlos Tevez, on the other hand, despite achieving less and performing at nowhere near the same level as Ronaldo, has become a cult figure hero of the masses at Old Trafford. His determination, dedication and desire to work hard for himself and the team have meant that he has been a crowd favourite wherever he has been.
Work rate
There is no doubt that Carlos Tevez is a top player but in all truth he has rarely shown that at United and it is for his work rate rather than his ability that he is hero worshipped by the fans.
I noticed yesterday on the various football message boards that United fans were very quick to say that they didn’t mind Tevez leaving and that he wasn’t good enough for United anyway. I assume these are the same fans that were singing for Fergie to sign him and writing on the message boards previously that he would stay and was indeed a world class striker. Who said football fans are fickle?!
As a neutral, I would say that Tevez probably hasn’t produced the goods at Manchester United. He has been in and out of the team so it has been difficult for him to maintain any level of consistency, but when he has played you could never fault him for his effort but the ability has never quite been there.
Decent
Tevez will be a decent signing for whoever takes him on now. He is a fine striker who will give his new club 100%. Cristiano Ronaldo will be a decent signing for Real Madrid and at times he will give their fans more excitement than they could imagine when he produces a piece of brilliance.
Old Trafford will be a poorer place without the two of them but who thought they could recover from the loss of Mark Hughes, Paul Ince and Bryan Robson? Could they ever be the same again without David Beckham, Eric Cantona and Jaap Stam. Would they be able to move on without Ruud van Nistelroy?
Recover
Well, the 2007-08 Premier League and Champions League double, together with the 2008-09 Premier League title and Champions League runners-up, suggests that they could. I have no doubt that they will recover equally well from the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez. Whether they spend millions to bring in the likes of Ribery and Benzema, or whether the youngsters like Macheda and Welbeck come to the fore, I have no doubt that United will continue to be there or thereabouts.
Sir Alex might be a little annoyed that two of his stars have chosen to move on. The rest of the Premier League should be worried. An annoyed Fergie is good news for nobody!
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