Corinthians bid £37million for Tevez
Published 23:01 11/07/11 By Darren Lewis
Manchester City were last night deciding whether to accept a staggering £37million bid for Carlos Tevez from his old club Corinthians.
The Brazilian outfit are believed to be using cash they have raked in from sponsorship - they have signed a shirt sponsorship deal worth £27m, the fourth largest in the world - and TV rights to fund the sensational offer, which would be a record for that country.
Corinthians have a new training complex and a stunning 68,000-capacity stadium due to open in 2013.
The arena will cost over £300million to build and the club believe it will make them the biggest hitters in South American football.
They moved for Tevez last night in an audacious bid to make him the jewel in their crown, six years after breaking their transfer record to get him from Boca Juniors in his native Argentina.
Corinthians' director of football, D.Monteiro Alves, said: "I don't want to get our fans' hopes up. We'll try. That's all I can say.
"[Signing Tevez] isn't impossible. It's a dream we're trying to realise."
City were unavailable for comment last night, but sources close to Tevez have confirmed the offer.
The bid presents the club with a quick solution to the problem that faced them only last week, when Tevez publicly declared he wanted out after just two years at Eastlands.
Although the bid is less than £50m - the minimum City insisted last week that they would sell for - it may kick-start an auction that could come to a quick solution as the Brazilian transfer window closes in only 10 days' time.
Tevez made his name at Corinthians, where he hit 25 goals in 38 league games. He also skippered the side to the title and lifted the South American Footballer of the Year award.
Since then he has gone on to save West Ham from relegation, clinch two Premier League titles, the League Cup and the Champions League with Manchester United, and the FA Cup with City.
