It’s hard to feel sorry for Tevez

IF footballers could squeeze a loyalty card into their burgeoning wallets then Carlos Tevez, after 14 years in the game, would barely have enough points to buy a toaster in Argos; so don’t expect too many tears to be shed over his latest whimpering transfer request.

The Manchester City striker, who has three seasons remaining on a five-year-contract, wants to leave England because of the heartache of living so far away from his two young daughters, who remain with his estranged wife in Argentina.

It is understandable, of course — laudable even in this enlightened age; how refreshing to hear about a re-constituted footballer who puts family first. But before the £200,000-a-week striker is unveiled as a challenger for David Beckham’s ‘father of the year’ crown, there is history to consider.

Tevez, who famously angered Manchester United fans by ditching them to sign for their hated neighbours and then — having bad-mouthed Sir Alex Ferguson — allowed his image to be used on a ‘welcome to Manchester’ poster, has already proved himself a callous mercenary.

Since leaving hometown club Boca Juniors in 2004 he has never stayed at a club for more than two years and caused one of the biggest controversies in English football when his third-party ownership by Media Sports Investment resulted in West Ham being heavily fined (just before he left them for Old Trafford of course).

During five years in England he steadfastly refused to learn the language and although his love for his daughters is unquestionable, when he was granted a mid-season holiday by City in 2010 after claiming homesickness he chose to go to Tenerife rather than Buenos Aires for his sabbatical.

There was widespread suspicion then, as there is now, that a fall-out with certain board members over a new contract played just as big a part in Tevez’s unhappiness as his family situation.

So what to make of his latest statement? “It is with great regret that I have to inform Manchester City of my wish to leave the club,” the striker said. “I would like to state that I have great respect for the club, its supporters and the owner Sheikh Mansoor, who has been nothing other than respectful to me.

“I hope that the people understand the difficult circumstances I have been living under the past 12 months, in regards to my family. Living without my children in Manchester has been incredibly challenging for me. Everything I do, I do for my daughters, Katie and Florencia. I need to be closer to them and to spend more time with them.”

It all sounds perfectly plausible, perfectly understandable; but perhaps the greatest test of its veracity will be where the wanderer ends up; a return to Argentina or early retirement would suggest family really is top of his agenda but if, as is more likely, another lucrative contract is waved at him from Italy or Spain then City fans will have a right to feel aggrieved.

They already know, of course, that he will certainly leave at some stage — even though City plan to hold out for £50m before releasing him — and that it is hugely unlikely a player who scored 53 goals in 86 appearances for his latest club and captained them to FA Cup success last season will ever play at Eastlands again.

Those statistics, together with memories of Tevez’s all-action displays, spectacular goals and passionate celebrations, suggest that on the field he will be desperately missed and, despite rumours of a move for Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero, could prove almost impossible to replace.

But what about off the pitch? And what about his place in Manchester City history — or Manchester United, West Ham or Corinthians history for that matter?

With so few loyalty points in the bank you suspect the Argentine will never quite achieve the legendary status his talent deserves, no matter where he ends up in the final years of his career — and his relentless pursuit of signing-on fees will almost certainly cloud his legacy to some extent.

While he is so busy chasing the bread, that Argos toaster will always remain out of reach.