Carlos Tevez is finally a Juventus player! His arrival means that the coveted "top player", a much discussed topic, has finally arrived at Corso Galileo Ferraris after two summers of disappointment. When it comes to technical ability, Carlitos is second to none in world football. Tevez was signed for € 9m to be paid in two installments which could rise up to €15m. All this means is that the capture of Tevez will take out only € 4.5m from Juventus' transfer kitty and that's one of the reasons why it's such a terrific coup for the Serie A champions
Antonio Conte knows full well that this is Tevez's last chance at creating a legacy in European football, to make the kind of impact that the player the world witnessed at the 2004 Olympics so promised. At Juventus, Tevez will be the main man upfront, the player his teammates look to when they need someone to pull them out of a hole, which is in stark contrast to his time at both Manchester clubs. Tevez, apart from his technical skills, is a player with great tactical mobility and it's this innate ability to interpret roles that sets him apart from many of his contemporaries, as evidenced by his deployment in any one of the 3 positions behind the lone striker in the 4-2-3-1 at both club and international level and even on either side of the lone striker in the 4-3-3, a formation that Conte favours as an alternative to the 3-5-2, at Manchester United and for Argentina.
His excellent close control and sharpness in and around the penalty area will no doubt make him the perfect partner for Fernando Llorente in Conte's preferred 3-5-2 formation. Throw into the mix his constant running, which will ensure that Juventus are able to maintain their high pressing game for the most part of the season, and one begins to understand why there's such excitement by the tifosi. His statistics certainly support his "top player" credentials; in his four seasons at Manchester City, Tevez was directly involved in 82 goals (58 scored and 24 assists') in 113 games is a phenomenal record. Even more outstanding is, since the 2009/10 season only Robin van Persie (83) and Wayne Rooney (76) have scored more goals than Tevez (58).
Simply put, Carlitos Tevez is a genius. Unfortunately, as with most geniuses, there is a suggestion that he's misunderstood if not a just downright unlikeable person and one who's difficult to get along with. The debacle at the Allianz Arena in 2011/12 and his subsequent sojourn back to Argentina, where he took time to hone up on his golf swing, is well documented. Controversy seems to be, where Carlos Tevez goes. His difficult time at Brazilian Serie A side Corinthians which culminated in him chairing a press conference in a Manchester United jersey to a befuddled Brazilian press is now part of folklore, his fallout with Sir Alex Ferguson and the list goes on.
There's an adage about Tevez, which originated amongst Boca Juniors fans during his time there, and it goes: "Born and bred in Fuerte Apache, loved the world over". At this moment in time, as Tevez addresses the Italian press for the first time, he is certainly loved in Turin and that's all that matters.