Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he was fully aware of just how good a player Manchester City were signing when Carlos Tevez moved to the Etihad Stadium.
Tevez joined United on loan in 2007 and spent two seasons at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson. During that time, the Argentine scored 34 goals in 99 appearances for the Reds.
When it became time for the striker to move permanently away from Upton Park, instead of joining United Tevez opted to move across to the blue half of Manchester. He would end up being just as successful for the Blues, scoring 78 goals during a four-year stint.
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Discussing the drama surrounding Tevez's eventual move to City, Ferdinand admitted to William Hill that Tevez choosing the Blues was a momentous decision. "When I first signed for United, Manchester City were nothing," he explained.
"They weren’t even on our radar and they were never going to win anything despite them being our local rivals. They might beat us but they’re not going to win the league.
"All of a sudden they got that injection of money and they started building and then everyone realised they were here to stay. The big one was when Tevez went there.
"We all knew how good he was and what a player they were getting. He wanted to sign the contract well before the club came to him and the kind of guy he was, he thought that was disrespectful and that’s why he didn’t sign.
"The chairman at the time, David Gill, asked me to ring him to try and get him to sign and I remember his agent telling me: ‘It doesn’t matter what money they offer him, he won’t sign.’" Since 2012, City have won six Premier League trophies while United have not won the title since 2013.
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