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Gary Neville has criticized former teammate Carlos Tevez for ‘knocking down tools’ towards the end of his spell at Man Utd.
The couple shared the same locker room at Old Trafford during Tevez’s two-year loan period between 2007-09.
Tevez had helped United triumph in the Premier League and the European Cup the season before his departure, but cut a frustrated number during his second campaign at the club.
He then surprised United by turning down the opportunity to stay at the club to move to rival rivals Man City, but Neville feels the striker already knew the end was near.
“What bothered me about Tevez was that he shot down tools in his second season,” Neville told Sky Sports. “I started sitting on the treatment bench, I started going out late to train. I started playing.
(Image: PA)
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“I was playing at the club, and I couldn’t bear that.”
“Particularly as he was at the time, the fierce Man Utd person on the inside never thought of anything else in my life, just in the United States every day.
“And the idea that someone would walk into that locker room and not only be at their best.”
Tevez was removed from the United lineup towards the end of the season and admitted near the end of the season that he did not expect to remain at the club.
The player was still owned by the Media Sports Investment group at the time, led by agent Kia Joorabchian, which caused difficulties with the negotiations.
“I understand that he had circumstances, but that his people were in his ear the whole time, he was so guided by his people,” Neville said. “It was always going to end the way it did.”
Despite the fact that United finally submitted an offer to fulfill the option to purchase a clause in Tevez’s loan contract, the player’s advisers informed them that he had no interest in staying.
But Neville denies that the striker’s move to Man City was the reason for his disapproval.
“I was disappointed that as a professional he didn’t act the right way,” added Neville. “I had no problem with the players leaving the club.”
“David Beckham left the club, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy. Great, great players. But there was a way to leave the club and there was a way to behave when you were there.
“So the problem I had with Tevez was not that he went to play with Man City, which in itself is a problem for me, that was not the main problem.”
“It was the way it developed in those last few months, I didn’t like it.”
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