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Tevez joins Man City revolution

Simon Stone,Press Association
Tuesday 14 July 2009 10:13 BST
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Carlos Tevez will today be unveiled as a Manchester City player after finally agreeing a five-year deal with the Eastlands outfit.

City announced a deal had been agreed with the 25-year-old last night, while the Argentina star was in the air flying back to England after a summer break ready to join his third Premier League club.

With a sensational move for Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor also offering cause for optimism, the Eastlands revolution is threatening to turn English football on its head.

"This is yet another deal that shows the commitment of owner Sheikh Mansour to make this club the best it can possibly be," manager Mark Hughes told www.mcfc.co.uk.

"Carlos is an international player of the highest class who possesses all the attributes that will help drive this club forward. He is not only outstanding technically but he is a reliable goalscorer and someone who will contribute fully to the team ethic. He gives us another exciting attacking dimension.

"It is terrific news and I cannot wait to welcome him to City."

It is Hughes' job to mould a team from the succession of star names being welcomed to the club, although it is a task to relish rather than one to fear, with ambition coursing through the veins of City's Abu Dhabi-based backers.

John Terry's name continues to be linked with a move north, and will continue to be so until such time as the Chelsea skipper confirms he is willing to remain at Stamford Bridge and spurn the most lucrative contract in England.

Adebayor's name is the shock addition to a list of potential targets to take the place of Samuel Eto'o, who was being earmarked for Eastlands until City pulled out of the bidding last Friday.

The Togo star's Arsenal future has been the subject of intense debate for a couple of summers now but there has been no confirmation of talks about a transfer from either club.

However, it is Tevez who is assured of a place on the plane bound for City's three-match tour of South Africa tomorrow, joining a select group of players who have joined both Manchester clubs.

An Olympic champion with Argentina in Athens five years ago, Tevez has won successive Premier League titles at United, where he was a crowd favourite.

Whether such adoration lasts will be tested at the Old Trafford derby on 19 September.

However, having lost out on Tevez, Sir Alex Ferguson today declared his belief the former West Ham player had already done a deal to move on.

"I half-expected Carlos Tevez would be going a long time back," said the United boss. "I think he maybe did a deal around January because I spoke to him and gave him an offer on the night we played Inter Milan and he never came back to me.

"I phoned him on holiday and he never got back to me and I texted him twice and he never got back to me then either, so obviously he had made his mind up a long time ago.

"He was a good player and did well for us. But he obviously assessed the situation and wanted to go somewhere else."

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