After impressing at West Ham, Carlos Tevez was highly sought-after. Despite registering just seven goals and four assists in his only season for the Hammers, the striker was lauded for his work rate, passion and determination to succeed.
While there were issues relating to his third-party ownership by Media Sports Investment, which ultimately resulted in changes to both Premier League and FIFA regulations, his time in London is remembered fondly by West Ham fans. His goal against Manchester United in May 2007 saw the Irons secure top-flight survival after Sheffield United failed to beat Wigan Athletic on the same day.
Tevez had, despite some off-field issues, become a hero for the Hammers, so his departure unsurprisingly disappointed some supporters. Their loss, though, was certainly United's gain.
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"He'll get me 15 goals this season, and what's more, they'll be important goals."
Those were the words of Sir Alex Ferguson after United made it clear that the club wanted to sign the striker on a permanent deal upon the conclusion of his two-year loan spell at Old Trafford. His first season with United was incredibly successful, and Tevez demonstrated that you could score goals while also working incredibly hard for your team.
As Ferguson predicted, his goals were important, too: a decisive header against Chelsea at Old Trafford, the winner at Anfield, and late goals in away games against Tottenham, Blackburn and Lyon.
The Argentine, who also scored in the penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final, had quickly become a fans' favourite at United. Many supporters felt, and probably still feel, that he was part of the best front three in history. Alongside Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, Tevez thrived. As did the other two.
It is no surprise, then, that he combined with the pair for 18 goals. They had an understanding rarely seen before in the Premier League - complementing each other's strengths. Tevez had everything needed to become a legend at Old Trafford. He was talented, passionate and incredible dedicated. Like many players, he would have ran through brick walls for Ferguson.
However, the forward was said to be frustrated about not being offered a permanent contract at the end of his first season with the Reds. The situation threatened to boil over, but when he played - and scored - against Manchester City in United's final home game of the 2008-09 season, chants of "Fergie, sign him up" rung around Old Trafford.
Tevez celebrated the goal by running in the direction of the dugout and cupping his ears, and his advisers later felt the need to clarify Tevez's gesture was meant for the press - not Ferguson.
“He wasn’t protesting about United,” said Kia Joorabchian, Tevez's agent. “Before the game he said: ‘Someone told me there was an article in the newspaper about me last week’ and I said, ‘Yes, there was and they were saying you were not a prolific goalscorer.’ So he said: ‘I want to know where the pressbox is because I want to go and show them my ears if they wrote that.”
Under pressure for answers surrounding Tevez's future, Ferguson, somewhat reluctantly, announced that United were in talks to sign him - with the Reds later agreeing to meet the buyout fee of £25.5 million, while also offering Tevez a five-year deal. The Argentine was set to become one of the club's top earner, but his advisors - to the surprise of everyone - informed the Reds that he no longer wished to play for United. He had scored a total of 34 goals for the Reds, but the end was now in sight.
While it quickly became clear that he would not be seen in a red shirt again, what came next shocked the football world.
Tevez signed a five-year deal with City in 2009, becoming the first player to move between the two Manchester clubs since Terry Cooke moved from United to City in 1999. His switch to the Blue side of the city was gut-wrenching for United fans, so when City erected a blue "Welcome to Manchester" billboard with him in the background, his legacy - or whatever was left of it - was gone.
It took some time for the Argentine to open up about exactly why he swapped red for blue, but when he did, it felt as though a number of details had been conveniently left out.
"With Ferguson nothing bad happened, it was a normal relationship," Tevez is quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror. "I went to United for two years on loan, and in the final year Ferguson told me that they were going to buy me permanently.
"We got to the Champions League final in Rome and I didn’t have any contract on the table, even though they’d spent the whole year telling me that.
"So I went to City and they complained about it but I never had the option of signing for United so I was free."
Earlier this year, United legend Rio Ferdinand revealed that former Reds chairman David Gill instructed him to try and convince Tevez to stay at Old Trafford. The forward, by his own admission, was frustrated that United had not offered him a new contract and felt he had been 'disrespected' by the club.
Ferdinand was fighting a losing battle. While the ex-England international insisted that he was surprised at Tevez's decision to leave, he also suggested that he could see his point of view.
"The big one was when Tevez went there from us," Ferdinand told William Hill. "Because I knew how good he was, we knew exactly what player they were getting.
"We were like 'Nah', at the time I was like 'This guy doesn't understand the rivalry, what is he doing?' But at the same time, I knew the story behind it, he wanted to sign the contract at Man United well before that time.
"Man United delayed and didn't come to him, and the kind of guy he is, I have respect for him in the end for it, because he said, 'you know what? You have disrespected me, I don't care what you offer me I am not signing.'
"I remember David Gill, the chairman at the time, asked me to ring him and speak to him and his agent and try to tell him to listen and sign. I remember his agent saying 'Rio, it doesn't matter what money they offer him, he won't sign. He feels he has been disrespected, so that's it'. As much as I was disappointed, I respect him."
Given that he enjoyed such prolific form under Ferguson at Old Trafford, it came as no surprise when Tevez got on the scoresheet against his former side. It was, in many ways, inevitable. It was bound to happen - a case of when, not if.
The striker scored the first of his four goals against United in January 2010, but it was the Reds who had the last laugh as a stoppage-time goal from Rooney sent Ferguson's side through to the League Cup final with a 4–3 aggregate victory. Nevertheless, Tevez still enjoyed a strong debut campaign at the Etihad and was named club captain by Roberto Mancini ahead of the 2010-11 season.
Tevez would go on to submit a transfer request in December 2010 for family reasons. It was quickly rejected by the club and described as "ludicrous and nonsensical". The frontman, as many expected, would eventually withdraw his transfer request as he expressed his commitment to the Blues.
His drama at the Etihad was far from over, though, with Mancini claiming that Tevez had refused to come on as a substitute against Bayern Munich in 2011. The Argentine argued that it was a misunderstanding. His manager suggested that he would never play for the club again.
Many supporters had grown frustrated with his attitude, while others just wanted to see him back on the pitch. After receiving the backing of his teammates, he returned in early February and contributed to City's maiden Premier League title triumph. Although he had expressed his desire to move on and focus on helping the Blues, with Mancini also welcoming him back into the fold, it certainly felt that his time in Manchester - and England - was starting to come to an end.
Indeed, 2013 saw the end of his City career. Tevez had still enjoyed a productive campaign at the Etihad - registering 17 goals and 15 assists - but the time had come for him to move on. Both parties would, probably, admit that.
According to Tevez's former teammate Stephen Ireland, the Argentine frontman and manager Mancini were "swinging for each other" in training long before winning the title together in 2012. The Irishman had left the Etihad before the famous title win, but he saw the the relationship between the pair up close when all three were together at the club during the 2009-10 campaign.
"The amount of arguments and fights and fists I saw in training, honestly, if only there was an Amazon documentary back then, with some of the stuff he was doing," Ireland told Ladbrokes: Fanzone earlier this year.
"Honestly, it was just incredible; the amount of times him (Mancini) and Carlos Tevez would go head-to-head, swinging for each other.. mental stuff. And it was over literally nothing. I don't know if that was just his tactic to constantly p*** people off. Maybe he was a genius, maybe he just wanted to p*** everyone off. I don't know; no one knows."
Tevez would go on to sign for Italian giants Juventus, and he was loved in Turin. The forward recorded 69 goal contributions during his time with the Serie A outfit. It was his last club in Europe and in typical Tevez fashion - he went out on a high.
Spells in his homeland with Boca Juniors followed - with a stint in China in between his two spells back in Argentina - as the great striker went on to call time on his playing career. For many fans, he is a hero. For others, he is a villain. Regardless, his time in Manchester, at both clubs, was successful, and he played a vital role in that.
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