Carlos Tévez: The story of an unforgettable Argentine striker

Carlos Tévez was one of the best footballers of the last decade. The Argentine played under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, immediately afterwards for city rivals Manchester City. The story of his holiday in China is equally unforgettable. Let’s recount one of football’s most amazing careers.

Carlos Tévez and his early career

The complete beginnings are referred to, among other things, by a series on the Netflix platform called Apach. Tévez’s great career began at Boca Juniors, where he made his debut in the 2001/02 season at the age of 17. He scored his first goal in senior football on 9 May 2002 in a 1-1 draw against Olimpia in the Copa Libertadores.

His truly stellar career began a season later. In 2002/03, his first full season at the top level, he scored 16 goals and 13 assists in 41 games. As he didn’t slack off in the following season either and managed to score 18 goals and 7 assists in 44 games, he became the Argentine Player of the Year. He also helped his team to the championship title.

A great season fired him to transfer to Corinthians, who sent 15 million euros to Argentina in January 2005. He spent only a year and a half in the Brazilian team, during which he scored 29 goals in 50 games. Then West Ham came in with a transfer offer and the skilful striker moved again.

Premier League

Tévez, however, spent just one season at West Ham. 7 goals and 4 assists are not impressive stats, but the Argentine did impress one man, namely Sir Alex Ferguson. Manchester United thus acquired him on a two-year loan deal for €12.5 million in the summer of 2007. In hindsight, the move seems like a masterstroke from the Scottish coach.

The Argentine striker immediately formed a great trio with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. Moreover, the Red Devils won the Premier League and the Champions League in the 2007/08 season. Tévez himself could boast 19 goals and 7 assists in 48 games. In addition, let’s not forget that he was only star number 3, maybe 4 or 5. However, without his running style, the team would not have achieved these successes.

The next season he scored 15 goals and added 7 assists. Manchester United won the Premier League again and reached the Champions League final, where they unfortunately fell short to Guardiola’s Barcelona. A permanent transfer to Old Trafford was in the cards, but it was swept under the table by Ferguson, who said: “Tévez told us he would only play football for another four years. If we had bought him, it wouldn’t have been worth it.”

A few weeks later, the Argentine was already posing in the Manchester City jersey, who sent West Ham €29m for him. During his first season on the other side of Manchester, he attacked the 30-goal mark, but eventually finished with 29. In the pale blue jersey, he clocked up four seasons in which he played 148 games and scored 73 goals. The biggest achievement is certainly the goal scoring crown from the 2010/11 season and the title from the following season.

Juventus

At just under 30 years of age, the Argentine decided to embark on yet another adventure, Juventus in Italy. Winning 2 titles in 2 seasons probably won’t surprise anyone. However, the 2013/14 season was not a good one for the Old Lady. Only a single Champions League group stage win against Real Madrid, Copenhagen and Galatasaray sent the Italian side to the Europa League. In the semi-finals, Tévez and co. subsequently fell short to Benfica. He finished the season with 21 goals and 9 assists.

The next season, however, was completely different. In the Champions League, Juventus defeated Dortmund and Monaco. Even the attack-minded Real Madrid under Carlo Ancelotti couldn’t keep up with the great team of Buffon and Chiellini. It was only Barcelona who put a stop to it in the final. However, Tévez broke the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career, scoring 38 goals in a season.

Homecoming

In the summer of 2015, the already experienced striker decided to return home, specifically to Boca Juniors. 11 goals and 4 assists were enough to make him a champion. Although Tévez celebrated league victories in 2015 and 2017, he didn’t play a full season either. In 2015, he came in already on a roll, and in the latter case, he left Boca for a Chinese adventure.

Vacation in China

Tévez was one of the pioneers of the Chinese Super League. Like Saudi Arabia today, China offered incoming players huge money. The Argentine signed a contract worth $40 million a year, but this chapter of his life lasted only 7 months and the player blames himself: “As soon as I arrived, I wondered what I was doing here. I wanted to go back to Boca right away. I was on a vacation that lasted 7 months.”

The end of Tévez’s career

He spent the last years of his career where else but at his home club, Boca Juniors. In 3 seasons he managed to score 28 goals and enjoyed another championship title. After his contract ended in the summer of 2021, he spent six months looking for a new contract, unfortunately without any interest from any club. A year later, in 2022, Tévez decided to finally end his rich football career and hang up his cleats.

Source: Transfermarkt