When news came in that United had secured Carlos Tevez on a permanent deal, I was made up. He was brilliant for us last season and aside from his goals, provided us with the extra fight and determination all winning teams need.
However, when the supposed transfer fee was quoted at £32 million, I, along with most other reds, questioned whether that was good value for money. That makes him the all-time most expensive player in the Premiership which is a title not all will believe he is deserving off.
If we look at transfer prices over the past few years we can gauge whether we got a good deal, or at least a reasonable deal, for our Argentinian striker. It’s important to note that the further back we go, the less accurate the transfer fee is in comparison. If you consider that the most expensive player in the World in 1998 was Denilson at £23 million, then three years later that record fee doubled to £46 million for Zinedine Zidane.
2007
Darren Bent became Tottenham Hotspur’s most expensive player after completing a £16.5 million switch from Charlton. However, with just a season in to his Spurs career, he has scored just 8 goals in 36 games. That works out at just over £2 million per goal.
In the same year, Liverpool forked out £21 million for Fernando Torres and in his first season with the dippers he put away 33 goals in 46 games. Liverpool took a gamble on a player who’d scored 15 goals in Spain the season before, and as much as it pains me to say it, it paid off brilliantly (apart from when he was playing against us!).
2006
Chelsea broke the transfer record when they brought in Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan. For his final three seasons in Italy he had scored over 25 goals a season and his signing seemed to confirm that Chelsea would be winning the title for the third consecutive season.
What has been the return on that £30 million? 22 goals in in 75 games, which over two seasons works out as £1.3 million per goal scored.
2004
United agreed a £20 million deal for Wayne Rooney, with £10 million payable on signing and a further £20 million coming a year later. Another £7 million would be paid depending on appearances and success (which obviously, with two league titles and a European Cup to his name, will now have been sent Everton’s way). No United fan could question the fact he was worth every penny.
Chelsea spent £4 million more on a striker that year, Didier Drogba. After scoring an impressive 29 goals for Marseille the year before, a debut season total of 16 goals in 41 games was somewhat disappointing for Chelsea. He redeemed himself for the following two seasons, however last season pushed even the most devoted rent boy with his lack of effort, his repeated confession he wanted to leave, as well as his antics in the European Cup final.
If we think that with inflation, Shevchenko works out as a more expensive player than Carlos Tevez, we can say that Tevez is brilliant value for money. Although if we look at the money Liverpool paid for Torres last summer, we can say Tevez is overpriced.
However, I’m a firm believer that if a player makes the difference needed to your team, then they are worth the cash. We paid over the odds for Michael Carrick two seasons ago and there was a lot of fuss in the media as well as rival fans over forking out such a sum for a player who’d cost just £2.75 million two seasons before.
When we break down the deal though, the price paid is far more reasonable. We paid £13 million initially, with the extra £5.6 million to be paid based on appearances and success. In his first season, United won the Premiership title, something which we would probably not have done had we relied our Darren Fletcher or John O’Shea to play along Paul Scholes in the centre of midfield, which were our other options. In his second season, we won the Premiership title and the European Cup, with just 6 players featuring more than him.
The same argument applies to Tevez. I want him at United because he makes a difference to our team. What would we have achieved without his last minute saving goals against Blackburn and Spurs? His decisive goals against Sporting Lisbon, Birmingham, Lyon and Roma? His important goals against our rivals Liverpool and Chelsea?
“It is crucial to get him signed and I am sure that will happen,” Rooney said at the end of May. “Carlos loves playing football here, he’s enjoying it, so I don’t see why it will be a problem. I had no doubts that we could play together and from training with him when he first came you could immediately see the qualities he had. I couldn’t wait to play with him. He’s been brilliant. He’s a battler, he works so hard and has scored 19 goals, which is brilliant.”
If our options are pay £32 million for Tevez to keep him, or don’t spend that amount of money and lose him, it’s a no-brainer as to what we have to do. In his first season, aside from the goals scored which saw him in the top 10 for the league, it’s his attitude that
As the time diminished in our Champions League semi-final, United leading but knowing a late goal from Barcelona would see us miss out on our appearance in the final, Tevez was running the length of the pitch, chasing balls down, putting pressure on the opponents on the ball, trying to push forward in support of Cristiano Ronaldo whenever there was an opportunity to attack. Whilst other players on the pitch tired, Tevez didn’t stop working for the entire 90 minutes. It’s those kind of qualities which increase the transfer fee because players combining goalscoring with never ending energy and drive do not come in abundance.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has supported the permanent signing of Tevez, referring to the important effect he has on our team.
“He’s got a winning mentality,” Solskjaer said. “He wants to be the best, he wants to win, he wants to score goals. If he’s on the bench he wants to come on and do well, he’s not one to sit down and sulk and ask, ‘Why didn’t I start’. He can pop up on the left wing, right wing, just behind the strikers, he can be in midfield and boss things, he was better than we probably hoped for last year. He’s one of those players who brings the other players up, but he brings the crowd up as well and I think that’s important for a team to have these players who can lift the whole stadium, lift the crowd, because when the crowd gets lifted it lifts the players as well. So his work rate is something which makes other players play better. Carlos is at the right place because he can handle the pressure, he just wants to be the best, he wants to be a winner. First season two trophies, obviously next season will be a big one as well, but I’m sure he will respond to that as he has always done, he’s always stood up and played well.”
So yes, £32 million is a bit steep, but if that is the only way we could keep him and the Glazers are prepared to stump up the cash, then you won’t hear any complaints from me!
its money well spent ! n btw @SCOTT love the new site design!:)
Worth every penny.
definitely a no brainer – pay up for carlito. he’s worth every penny in the IMPACT he has on the morale of the team. of course i love watching him play, no matter what he scores he is running his balls off from the second he steps on until the second he comes off (regardless of if thats the beginning middle or end of a match).
And seriously, if you can show me a more inspiring goal celebration than the looks of sheer joy on carlito’s face when he puts it in the net – i would love to see it
Wow the site looks really nice!
When did u changed it, scott?
This site looks great now. Well done Scott
This year is the first time he’s had a break in several years – expect ‘El Apache’ to take the league by storm next season.
Tevez is a class act. I assume that the money to buy out his contract was stipulated at the time of the loan and I’m sure it was significantly less than the figures quoted! In any case it is better to spend a significant sum on one really good player rather than spend the same sum of thre or four mediocre players. We don’t need mediocre, we need quality and Tevez is it!
Ella
I was hoping that UTD would sign him; he didn’t disappoint. Lionel Messi may be a “more skilled”, but Tevez is a better football player. Carlitos is a quality player – right, left, central, midfield: he can play anywhere in attack. And, just like TheBoyWonder, he brings the same qualities of desire, energy, and skill to the party.
Tevez is worth it. Its not like we are buying a total strange player to the team, Carlos has been here for a year and knows everybody. He is a part of the squad for the future, he works well with Wayne and can score important goals. And the game against Barcelona he looked like he could run all the way to Moscow if it would get United to the final. Class player, class man!
I think the fee of 32 million quid is because he wears the nr.32 shirt
I’ll let you know his worth at the end of this coming season, because I believe this coming season will give us a better guide. He is a player who truly never says die though until the very final whistle. Ever ready Tev, what a combatant, he fought like a tiger against Barca at Old Trafford. Like he said himself, we had to make every tackle as if our life depended on it.
Ive heard the £32 million is combining the loan fee, wages over two years, and trasnfer fee.
Absolutely worth it. I doubt the fee is so high I remember Fergie saying the fee was agreed and was pretty cheap some way back. As far as I know its 10M for two year loan along with wages , 15M paid up initially and 7M add ons. If we see it that way , its a real bargain considering the inflated prices. 22M for a proven striker who is yet to peak!
I’d even pay 32 for him , he has everything in him to be a Legend.
Good player but I would not say it was a no brainer all in all £32m is a lot of money, consdiering if and a big if we get Berba, and Ronaldo stays he is not a shoe in first choice starter, ps web looks great.
Pooja, I think your calculations are close to the mark. If we pay him £80k per week over the next 4 years thats £16m of the £32m already so whilst his PR team will want to quote a big figure for the sake of his profile in the Americas, the reality will be a lot less.
definitely worth it . he may not be a benzema or berbatov but you have to consider he is now an integral part of our team . he has settled in well in his first year and losing him now would be at the risk of destabilizing the current squad . he also has 2 years experience playing in the premiership and is at an age when he should be at his peak . if he is our only signing of the season i would gladly accept that .
Calito is the man,am so happy we have land him on a permanent basis,with him you know that anything can never go wrong,he is a class act and a battler,i have no doubt in him,we will definitly see more of him this coming season.Thumbs up to united for signing him…
Brilliant player. No brainer really. Sign him up Gill.
I agree with the majority of posters on here in saying, Please, get the deal done as quickly as possible and show Carlitos we appreciate the energy and desire he gives for the club. I dont understand some peoples obsession with new signings, there are those over at Red Rants who honestly want to let Carlos go just so they can bring in Huntellar/Benzema/Berba etc. That to me, makes absolutlely no sense. We knows carlos plays well in our league and he works well with his teammates and our style of play. So why on earth take a punt on someone who could be another Dirk Kuyt or maybe David Bellion, or a player who might sulk if things dont go his way and who we know for sure wont put in the same kind of defensive effort that carlos puts in.
Although the fee is incredibly high, I feel that you have to look at his contribution to know that he is worth it to some degree. The games he saved us in last season added more pounds to his valuation in my opinion. I have friends who laughed at me when we signed Carrick in the summer of 2006 for 14.6m basic – 18.6m with add ons. I told them ‘we’ll see’, and as it happens it turned out to be money well spent, cos his signing won us the title in 2007, and his contribution last season enabled us to retain the title and win the European Cup – so on that basis he is definitely value for money. That opinion is applicable to whoever we sign that helps us win the big prizes. I think the most pleasing aspect of the European Cup Final win was seeing all of our 2007 summer signings despatching their penalties with relative ease, especially Hargreaves – 51m well spent.
Worth his wait in gold, incidently its round about £32,000,000. Those last minute gaspers are worth £1mill alone. He’s only 23, he’s got a great mentality, he’s strong, clinical and can only get better.
£32m would have been steep a few years ago, but transfers these days are alwats silly. Robbie Keane, although a quality player, just went to a new low, at the cost of around £20m!!!
Tevez may have cost a lot of money, but Rio and Wayne were up there years ago. Money is there to be spent and I am happy that we now have him.
A crazy amount of money and a crazy game football is these days.
Not worth it, IMO. Not saying we shouldn’t have tied him up permanently, but he’s not worth more than £25m. Anyway i still don’t believe he cost us that much cus back in April/ May, Fergie said a deal had been agreed and it was something cheap…
Certainly worth it if he continues to get important goals at the death of important matches. However i understand where scott is coming from: tevez is a touch slower than the likes of drogba and torres, and his finishing has much left to be desired (think the two chances in the ECL Final that would have finished the game off in the first half). But tevez is still worth buying albeit at an inflated price because of his passion and his love for united.
its not my money so i say pay £32 million for him
Great skill, , great strength great work rate and great attitude (could work a bit on his heading!) but what a player
pay what it takes to keep this guy