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Manchester City received an email from AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani last week, offering to take Carlos Tévez on loan for six months and then sign him permanently for £17.5 million next summer.
It was rejected out of hand, as was an offer from Paris St-Germain several weeks ago to take the striker on loan after they spoke directly to Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak.
The French club continue to monitor the situation and may make a more concrete offer if, as expected, Carlo Ancelotti is appointed their new coach at the end of the year.
The former Chelsea manager is a big Tévez fan – he had wanted to take the player to Stamford Bridge when he first got the job.
The Paris St-Germain technical director, Leonardo, is also an admirer, and the club’s Qatari owners, who are set to sign David Beckham, want to make a statement.
More enquiries have been made this week about Tévez. Tottenham Hotspur did not talk to City but manager Harry Redknapp was linked with a move, which appears to have been quickly shot down by chairman Daniel Levy who deemed it too expensive.
Now there has been contact again from Juventus, who made their first inquiries about the Argentine international this time last year. Pavel Nedved, a director at Juventus, has spoken directly to City manager Roberto Mancini.
It seems that Juventus are prepared to make a cash offer for a permanent deal but that it will fall below City’s valuation.
Either way, it appears that an interesting market is developing for one of the world’s best players who has not taken to the pitch since featuring for the full 90 minutes in the Carling Cup tie at home to Birmingham City on Sept 21.
That is a long time for a fully-fit footballer to be kicking his heels. Tévez has returned to Argentina and is not expected back in Manchester until his future is resolved. Nothing formal has been agreed, it seems, but City are aware of that development.
What is clear is that it is in the interests of all parties that he leaves City next month. Although there has been much acrimony surrounding the saga, it is understood that relations are cordial between Tévez’s adviser, Kia Joorabchian, and John MacBeath, City’s executive director, who is the acting chief executive following Garry Cook’s departure.
Joorabchian was at City’s game at Chelsea on Monday and there has been a constant dialogue. Although Milan insist their offer is final, City are sticking to their guns that Tévez can leave only on a permanent transfer.
Hopefully, Juventus’ intervention might help that process. It is understood Tévez would be happy to move to Juve or Milan as long as he leaves City, and it appears that, finally, a solution could be found.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the case it cannot be right that a 27-year-old sportsman in his prime is not playing.
Brazilian striker Neymar is the real deal, too, but he’s not the Real deal. His club, Santos, have rejected an astonishing £50 million offer from Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid to sign the 19 year old, who is considered the biggest young talent in world football.
Real have been stunned by the rejection, given the club have believed since last summer that they had seen off rivals, who have included Barcelona and Chelsea over the past couple of years, to secure Neymar. Now, he will stay at Santos, and stay in Brazil, until 2014.
That date is key – he signed a revised contract in November, although its terms, running to 2015, remained unchanged – because it shows just how important the 2014 World Cup is to the player and his country. Neymar has even been presented with a shirt with ”2014” on it.
Brazil is enjoying an economic boom, with more money being poured into the game through television deals. Neymar, as the country’s rising star, is seen as very important to the nation’s economic as well as sporting prospects.
Premier League clubs, in the meantime, are queuing up for Wilfried Zaha. In good news for Crystal Palace fans, the hot prospect is expected to sign a new five-year contract, possibly even today. ”It shows the commitment the young players have for this club,” said the Palace manager, Dougie Freedman.
Bad news for Palace fans: six Premier League clubs, plus one from the Championship, have registered their interest in the 19-year-old striker and may just be about to make an offer that cannot be refused.
It is believed that a bid of £4 million might persuade Palace that they can no longer hold on to Zaha – exhilarating in their Carling Cup campaign – with Manchester City, Liverpool, Stoke, Aston Villa and Fulham among those who have expressed an interest in him in the past.
Offers to test Palace’s resolve are expected when the transfer window opens next month. West Ham have stepped aside because they believe the bidding will go too high for an exciting but still relatively untried talent. But it could be a short-lived new deal.
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