According to various reports across the Web, sought-after West Ham striker Carlos Tevez is on the verge of joining Manchester United. The fee has been pegged at around $40 million, although neither West Ham nor United is commenting on the speculation. The Argentine international has said he won’t make a decision about his future until the end of the Copa America in Venezuela, but the reports claim that representative Kia Joorabchian is finalizing the transfer details now. The player’s contract with West Ham runs through 2010, although given the complexities surrounding his arrival at Upton Park, his release from that contract may be no less cumbersome.
Aside from all that, Mike Adamson of the Guardian asks, if Tevez really does come to Manchester United, where would he fit in? He’s certainly strong, explosive and has a good instinct for goal, but Tevez isn’t an out-an-out goal getter. Like Wayne Rooney and unlike, say, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Tevez has to make most of his goals himself — he doesn’t have that sixth sense of being in the right place at the right time. Of course, Ruud is long gone, so even with the addition of Tevez, United “may still lack a focal point” — that is a tall, direct talisman of a center forward.
Moreover, the Old Trafford offensive line is suddenly starting to look rather crowded: Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Louis Saha, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and new additions Nani and Anderson. With Saha likely to depart, that still leaves five, although most of them are fluid inside-forwards, which means next year’s Man United is starting to look more like an Arsenal or a Barcelona.