Manchester United legend Gary Neville admitted that he was devastated by Carlos Tevez’s decision to leave the Red Devils and sign for Manchester City.
Carlos Tevez arrived at Old Trafford in 2007 as part of a loan deal from West Ham and spent two seasons at Manchester United under former boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
The 40-year-old Argentine made his mark at United, with Tevez scoring 34 times and registering 14 assists in 99 appearances for the Premier League club.
Tevez was an instrumental part of United’s attack force and created a formidable trident partnership with club legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.
During his spell at Old Trafford, the former United star lifted two Premier League titles, a Champions League and a League Cup before his exit in 2009.
However, Tevez stunned the world when he rejected the opportunity to sign for United permanently and instead moved to crosstown rivals Manchester City.
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Neville on ‘special’ Man Utd trio
Manchester City agreed a deal believed to be worth around £25.5m for Carlos Tevez, who spent four years at Manchester United’s rivals.
Tevez’s move to the Etihad soured his ties with United fans and the ex-Red Devils star is not held in the same light as he once was during his time at Old Trafford.
The former West Ham and Red Devils player lifted a Premier League title and an FA Cup with City before he moved to Serie A side Juventus in 2013.
Despite his move to City, Tevez’s former United teammates have spoken highly of him and Rio Ferdinand dropped a huge compliment on the Argentine.
Speaking on The Overlap, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher discussed football traitors with fans in the audience and the United legend opened up about Tevez.
Neville called the legendary former United front three of Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez a “special” attack and said that the trio were “unreal” on the pitch.
However, the Sky Sports pundit admitted that Tevez’s transfer to City was a devastating moment for him after his ex-teammate’s accomplishments at United.
“The one for me for United, to be fair, was Tevez – that got me the most,” Neville said.
“He was with us for a year and a half, wasn’t he? I know it was a loan, but it was a weird ownership thing then, I think, for him.
“But for us, he was a United player, and I just thought that front three of Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney was special. It was unreal. It was like, ‘Oh my…’
“And I just thought that if you played for United, you didn’t go directly to City, you know what I mean? If you played for United, that was winning things like Champions [Leagues]…”
Neville on ex-Man Utd star Tevez
Despite their heated battles in the Manchester derby, Neville admitted that former Argentina international Tevez was “unbelievable” and a brilliant character at the club.
Neville, who spent his entire career at United, added that Tevez might have become a “little bit disillusioned” towards the end of his Old Trafford career.
“He was a great lad at United. He was [an] unbelievable fighter,” Neville continued.
“Towards the end, he became… I think a little bit disillusioned because he started to get left out and stuff.
“But I just thought that to me that wasn’t right that one. That was the one I thought…”