The money’s been spent and a big time player has crossed the line…. And now with the managers (one of which is the former player in Mark Hughers when he was with United) throwing barbs back and forth over money spent during the summer, the new Manchester Rivalry is ready for primetime.
Via Guardian
Direct transfers between the Manchester rivals are rare and will become rarer still should City achieve their aim of becoming one of United’s top-four rivals. Throw in the £25m transfer fee that now seems to have almost doubled due to hidden costs, and the fact that City’s use of Tevez’s image on a provocative poster campaign prompted Ferguson to accuse them of “arrogance” again yesterday, and it is hard to avoid the conclusion that, far from shying away from signing their rivals’ players, the Eastlands hierarchy is seeking head-on confrontation.
“It just tells you how much money they have to spend,” Ferguson said, regarding City’s apparent determination to have Tevez whatever the cost. Hughes vehemently denies the suggestion that City paid over the odds just to spite United.
“We didn’t sign Carlos just to make a statement. We went for him because he is a world-class striker and he was available,” he said. “We are convinced we have made a fantastic signing. We didn’t do it just because we could.”
The deal shows nevertheless that City are immune from the financial constraints affecting most clubs – even United. “Tevez was a good player for us, he did his job here well and I’ve no complaints about that,” Ferguson said. “He felt he didn’t play enough football in his last season and maybe he had a point. You can’t keep all the players all the time. Cristiano Ronaldo proved that. We had six good seasons out of him then it was time to move on.
“You can’t keep everyone happy, especially these days when some players appear to be dominated by their agents. Gabriel Heinze was only here a year and then he wanted away. That surprised me but the next day he picked up a cruciate injury, so he had to stay. Then as soon as he was fit again he wanted away again. I’m certainly not envious of City picking up Tevez, I’ve got my squad and I’m happy with it but, as I say, they are playing to different financial rules to everyone else. I could have bought a player for £52m in summer had I wanted to [Atlético Madrid's Sergio Aguero has a buy-out clause for roughly that amount, though Ferguson could have been referring to Franck Ribéry or even Karim Benzema] but I didn’t think it was worth it. I didn’t think the summer just past was a particularly good time to buy any players. Prices were too high all round.”
Image via Static
