/ 29 May 2009

United could have won with me, says Tevez

Carlos Tevez has told Sir Alex Ferguson that Manchester United would not have surrendered the Champions League so meekly if he had been in the starting line-up.

Tevez watched from the bench as United fell a goal behind and struggled to equalise against Barcelona in Rome on Wednesday night.

Ferguson eventually sent the Argentina forward on as a half-time substitute but the pattern of the game had already been established and he was unable to shake United out of their slump, with Barca claiming a 2-0 victory.

Like his United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, Tevez was frustrated by Ferguson’s tactics and felt they played a key role in the result.

Tevez is unhappy at a lack of regular first-team action at United and is keen for his future to be resolved, with talks ongoing between United and his advisors.

But Tevez’s Rome appearance is likely to his last for United as speculation mounts that Liverpool, Manchester City and Real Madrid are all willing to meet the &pound32-million valuation set by the star’s economic rights holders.

”I wanted to play in the starting line-up in Rome but that decision was down to the coach,” Tevez told the Daily Mirror.

”But with a strategy more attacking in the first minute then perhaps the result would have been different.

”It has not been a good time for me because I believe that I should have played more minutes. My future will now be decided. My agents are negotiating and I am waiting to hear some news.”