Player power is ever increasing in football and the situation is only becoming more unbalanced. As the Carlos Tevezsaga rumbles on like some boring omnibus that climaxed weeks ago yet continues to run we are left wondering what Man City’s real options are? Don’t confuse my disdain for Tevez as sympathy for City, of which I have none, but it seems to me that Man City’s rights are not really protected here. What can they really do to punish a player they paid around £40m for who now refuses to play?
Suspension
Yes they can suspend Tevez, they have already done this and whilst they don’t necessarily have to pay him during this time is this punishment enough? The player is refusing to come back and train at City long after his suspension has finished therefore it appears that this punishment carries little actual threat to the Argentine striker.
Fines
They can fine him. They’ve done this too, but what does it matter to a man that earns a reported £200,000 a week if he is fined half a million, or a million, or more? Before the year is out he will have regained all of that money so it makes little difference to him. Monetary threats to footballers are not really threats at all. They will always make the money back from the person who is normally fining them. It is a farce.
Sacking
They can sack Tevez which alleviates the problem of having to pay the ungrateful culprit and then they no longer have to deal with the problems he presents. However again Tevez doesn’t even want to be at City. Being sacked is exactly what he does want then he would be free to go and ply his trade wherever he saw fit. Probably back inArgentina. Moreover they would never recover any of the hefty price tag which they paid for him. They can sue him if they were to dismiss the forward but reports suggest that they would only receive about £17m which would be less than half of the asking price they have set for the striker.