MSI want £27m for Carlos Tevez. Why would you ever dream of paying that?

when carlos tevez and javier mascherano first signed for west ham on that crazy transfer deadline in august 2006, there was that hubristic chatter about champions league football. these were the two players to transform the ambitious hammers into real challengers - the sophisticated negativity of mascherano would add bite to the midfield whilst the joyous flair of tevez would supplant the otherwise mundane harewood and zamora in order to play off the revelatory dean ashton. perfect.

except it didn't quite work out that way. mascherano didn't seem to quite grasp the premier league, and successive west ham managers certainly didn't grasp him: he was out of the first xi with startling rapidity, playing in the reserves, the team wholly incapable of accomodating him. there was more perseverance with tevez, despite a torrent of those horrible, peering-through-your-fingers misses, of the sort diego forlan used to specialise in, when you recognise that sympathetic concoction of talent and a total lack of confidence. at one point he was even played out on the left wing by alan curbishley, the second manager of that fateful season, but through the sheer force of his ability managed to pull himself back into his rightful position, scoring a series of obscenely significant goals that helped west ham stay in the premier league.

of course, that would not be the end of the torrid affair. mascherano had already left for liverpool by that stage, and in the process of signing him rick parry noticed a few choice sentences in his contract that would signal the beginning of a (still unresolved) legal saga concerning both argentinians, west ham, and the clubs who felt most wronged by the situation. tevez departed for manchester united, always a slightly unconvincing move as despite his obvious qualities there was a suspicion he offered little that wayne rooney and cristiano ronaldo weren't capable of themselves.

perhaps that was the point; with the tactically flexibility that united adopted in the prolonged absence of supposed lead-striker louis saha, tevez, rooney and ronaldo were interchangeable. each could expect to play as much through the middle as they could on the flank. it was certainly the making of cristiano ronaldo, as the portuguese evolved from goal-scoring winger into perhaps the best offensive player in the world, a symbol of the new tactical amorphousness, the player without no fixed position beyond "attack". nevertheless, at times, especially when united stationed a solitary ronaldo up-front against barcelona, you felt that united needed more presence in the final third, a player around which the others could orbit around.

eventually, alex ferguson signed dimitar berbatov, a signing in which my faith is long and very clearly established. with him in the side, ronaldo has been inconspicuously effective, scoring a handful of goals since his return in an inexplicably low-key manner. it is rooney that has soared, allowed back from the ancillary, sparking into life and justifying the esteem in which many (including myself) continued to hold him. and in this new line-up, carlos tevez has drifted out of the spotlight.

the problem is, carlos tevez simply isn't a footballer of the highest class. he's quick without being electric, skilled without being daunting; a decent finisher, capable of flashes of genius without ever really conveying the impression that he could ever really transform that into consistent production. if anything, his most outstanding attributes are physical - quietly terrifying strength coupled with perhaps the most impressive stamina you could ever wish to see. the way he refused to cease chasing in the champions league final was, frankly, spell-binding. but one cannot help but feel that without his latin heritage this would be a considerably less valuable footballer; a skillset almost at odds with la nuestra, that most religious of footballing creeds, his presence has always felt more anglo-saxon than anything else. like dirk kuyt, the less talented brother plying his trade half an hour down the road, the unceasing commitment, the willingness to sacrifice seemingly any and every joule of energy within his body, places him within that canon of english footballing heroes more than any other. and the point is, united already have the superior version of carlos tevez, the carlos tevez with added virtuoso talent: his name is wayne rooney.

given all of this, the price tag that the more-or-less despicable kia joorabchian has placed on his head - supposedly £27m - is preposterous. you can see why ferguson would want to keep the argentine, but at that price he shouldn't even contemplate it; for £27m you should expect more than physical freakishness, the right attitude and capricious talent. depending on the progression of nani, united should be more concerned with that 3rd attacker behind berbatov, and the tendinitis that still hampers owen hargreaves might mean united need to try again at recruiting a midfield anchor. for a substitute, no matter how well suited, £27m is largesse that even chelsea would scoff at. united can get their man, but not for that price.