Tevez - Going, Going, Not Going

I'm sure that it's come as no surprise to anyone that Corinthians have failed in their bid to sign Carlos Tevez. As expected they simply don't have any money. I have said on these pages that I cannot see how a South American Club can afford to buy one of the best footballers in the world - why do all theirs play in Europe?

And so it has been proved. One minute Tevez is all but on the flight, next minute the deal's off because they're skint!

They tell the world that City has tried to move the goalposts in actualy expecting them to pay for the player. Their understanding we're told was that they would start to pay in January when their new TV deal kicks in.

So they wanted five months service from one of the hardest working footballers alive for...nothing and wanted City to run the risk of the player getting injured during that time and then them pulling out of the deal. Didn't the world's pirates come from South America or does this have the scampi-fry smelling fingers of a second hand car salesman hovering around it?

We can see exactly why City wanted a clause forbidding the selling on of Tevez for up to two years and why this perhaps more than anything has accelerated this deal hitting the buffers. Am I a sceptic or do we all feel that this was a deliberate maneouvre to get Tevez packed off to Corinthians as a staging post for a further transfer to somewhere else?

Result - Corinthians get him for five months for nothing. They will owe City a huge transfer fee which probably wouldn't arrive and then they sell him to Madrid or Milan in the transfer window unencumbered in Europe for a tasty profit. Oh and as he has effectively been transferred twice someone somewhere cashes up twice. Someone I fear who does not drive a second hand Kia.

There's time yet for a swap for Sneijder. At least that way we do not have to wait for money off parties that simply don't have any.

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