Even midway through this season’s domestic campaign – over seven years on from when the stocky Argentine striker first departed the east end in more than cloudy circumstances – West Ham United have seemingly been unable to detach themselves from the numerous transfer reports linking Carlos Tevez with a sensational move back to Upton Park.
And for good reason too. El Apache, as the 31-year-old Juventus forward has been lovingly nicknamed back home in South America, simply goes down as one of greatest Hammers favourites of the modern era. His well-documented trials and tribulations in the claret & blue have been recorded forever in West Ham folklore for future generations of Irons fans to sit back and ponder upon.
Even if his initial partner in crime down in the east end – the now 30-year-old Barcelona dynamo Javier Mascherano – didn’t quite gel in the same way Tevez did with the Upton Park faithful, such a dramatic period in West Ham’s recent endeavours will likely not be forgotten by the rest of the Premier League any time soon.
In light of these latest, and albeit predictable, transfer stories linking the club back to the highly coveted Argentinean, just how likely would another out of the blue move for Carlos Tevez really be for David Gold and David Sullivan in the run up to West Ham’s final year at the Boleyn Ground?
Whilst such a sensational turn of events would likely come as a great pleasure to the majority of the Upton Park faithful, in reality this move looks to be in the same place that it always has been – unlikely at best.
Carlitos is undeniably a top player. He has a turn of pace better than most of his counterparts in the modern game, a certain unique tenacity that has seen several defenders fall short of besting the talented forward – and although the striker took a while to get off the mark with the Hammers all the way back in 2006/07 – Tevez ultimately commands a clear goal-scoring threat when given the adequate freedom up top.
As the former Manchester United and City man still has a reputation as one of the top players in his field at the moment however, it ultimately seems too unlikely that our former no. 32 will ever be pulling on the Hammers shirt in a competitive fixture again.
He isn’t short of game time at the moment, still has a good few years left in the tank to do the business at the very top, and certainly wouldn’t be lacking in high profile suitors should the player eventually decide to leave Serie A.
Combined with the fact that West Ham definitely wouldn’t be in a position to afford his potentially hefty wages, Carlos Tevez didn’t have the best of times off the pitch whilst playing in England last time around – so any illustrious return to the Premier League just doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to happen.
That said, the Hammers may as well give it a go and try to bring the former fan-favourite back to Upton Park. Yes, the club have no real reason to believe such a deal would ever go through – but as no one within the footballing community ever expected either Tevez or Mascherano to sign under Alan Pardew in the first place – you can simply never say never when it comes to West Ham.
Some will say he’s not worth it because of the subsequent compensation that had to be issued to Sheffield United as a result of his arrival. Many may elude to the suggestion that he’s not a real Hammers legend because he was only at the club for one season.
There may even be those who resent Carlos Tevez for using West Ham as a stepping stone and ultimately moving onto bigger and better things – but if the opportunity arises for the club to somehow get their hands back on Carlos Tevez in the run up to the Olympic Stadium move – such an audacious transfer should be welcomed with open arms.
As we have all likely seen the end of Carlos Tevez as a West Ham player however, perhaps now would be a good time to cast an eye over our current batch of potential stars, and take a look at which players have what it takes to become the next Hammers heroes throughout the foreseeable future.
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