Tevez says signing of Berbatov was beginning of the end

[Elano]

Carlos Tevez claims he knew his days at Manchester United were numbered when Dimitar Berbatov joined the club.


The Argentina striker will be playing for a new team next season after turning down a five-year contract to remain at Old Trafford. And he felt Berbatov's arrival from Tottenham last summer, which provided further competition for places up front, proved to him that his future did not lie at United.


"I am not sure where I am going to play, but I know for sure that it will not be at Manchester [United]," Tevez told the Argentina TyC Sports television network. "When I arrived I had to fight for a place like any other player. My first season was good. I was a starter or a substitute, but I respected that.

"But in my second year, after the match against Liverpool, the coach started to overlook me. The fans supported me a lot so I thought that something was going on as my performances were also good. I was a professional.

"I did not feel supported after they signed Berbatov, because I was the man for the job he was bought to do. Last year I was the second top scorer after Cristiano [Ronaldo]. We won two titles [the Premier League and the Carling Cup] and being shut out like this was something that I could not understand.

"They did not ask me to sign the contract. Ferguson told me not to be worried about Berbatov's arrival, but I did not like it when he started to put me on the bench often. I gave my life for the Manchester United shirt."