Avoiding the Drop

It’s come to this for the Manchester United striker. After a season at Old Trafford that’s only seen him make 23 appearances, Carlos Tevez has read the writing on the wall and says he could leave at the end of the year.

That’s probably not surprising; rumors of his exit have been swirling ever since Dimitar Berbatov sulked into town. In my mind the bigger issue here is where he’s going to go. Read on for my opinion after the jump.

First things first: the price tag. Tevez is currently on loan to Manchester United from Media Sports Investments. Just like a leased car, there’s an option to buy at the end of the loan; in this case, the pricetag is rumored to be around £30 million, which is far more than Manchester United can probably afford (although they could always just tack the money onto their debt total).

The issue, then, is twofold. First, who needs a striker? Second, who can afford Tevez? My top five are as follows.

1) Inter Milan: Inter seems like the logical first stop for Tevez for a couple of reasons. First of all, Argentina boss Diego Maradona has previously said that Tevez should play for Inter. If Maradona has Tevez’s ear than this would be the first place to go.

It’s not the only reason to like Inter as a destination, though. For one thing, they’ll probably have the money to buy him after Mourinho does a second wave of cleanups (goodbye, Quaresma!). For another, they may be looking a little shallow in strike force depth at the moment without Adriano.

At the same time, Tevez might look at the situation at Inter as unfavorable; between Ibrahimovich, Cambiosso, and Balotelli the Nerazzurris haven’t exactly missed Adriano this season. Tevez could come in and displace one of those players…or he could come in and be stuck on the bench again.

2) Barcelona: Barcelona may seem like an odd fit for Tevez; after all, it’s not like they’re struggling offensively at the moment. A good team plans ahead, though, and Barcelona is a good team. On top of Lionel Messi, they have Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry. Henry may only have one or two years left. Eto’o has been the frequent subject of trade rumors. Put that together and you just might have a Carlos Tevez sized hole in the Barcelona strike force.

Barcelona’s already thought about this, of course. That’s why they’ve been looking at Bayern’s Frank Ribery and sniffing around David Villa. Would the all-Argentinian pairing of Tevez and Messi be enough to make them change their minds? I’m not sure. They’d definitely be in the running, though.

3) Liverpool: If Liverpool didn’t have colossal debt and no way to pay for the transfer I’d have placed them at the top of this list. The benefits for the Merseyside club are immense: they get a former United player who feels he’s been snubbed at the same time that they fill a role that needs filling. Signing Robbie Keane was only bad for Liverpool in retrospect, after all; it’s been proven several times this season that the Merseyside club did, in fact, need another striker. They just bought themselves the wrong one.

Liverpool have also dealt with MSI before when they transferred Javier Mascherano. The two are friends, which could help Tevez adapt quickly; Tevez, who plays like a more talented Dirk Kuyt, shouldn’t have any problems finding a role at Anfield. And if the rumors linking Liverpool with Eto’o are true, one would have to think that it’s theoretically possible that they could come up with the cash.

4) Olympique Lyon: Why Lyon, you ask? A couple of reasons. First, Lyon has no debt; like every French club, they’ve got the money to spend. Second, Karim Benzema has already said he’d be interested in a move to Manchester United; this could easily be a de facto striker swap when it’s all said and done.

That said, though, I’d consider this to be a long shot. Not that Lyon wouldn’t want Tevez; I just don’t know that Ligue 1 is a big enough stage for him.

5) Chelsea: See all the reasons that Liverpool would want Tevez, then add in the fact that they have the money to throw at the deal. They’ve already supposedly put in a £50 million deal for David Villa; why not spend 40% less for a younger talent? This is also a position they’ll almost have to address in the offseason, as either Anelka or Drogba (or both) will probably not be back next year.

The thing with Chelsea, though, is that they’ve got a huge summer coming up. Without knowing who their manager will be, or what kind of team they’re planning on putting together, it’s hard to know how Tevez would or wouldn’t fit in.

Did I leave anyone out? Let me know in the comments.