Should Man City Extend The Contract Of Carlos Tevez?

After watching Carlos Tevez's exclusive interview (so exclusive I can't find it now) with Jeff Shreeves on Sky Sports yesterday it appears that Carlos is happy in Manchester and would like to extend his contract in Manchester.

The Argentine who was AWOL for much of last season before returning and playing a big role in Man City's title win had this to say when asked if he was settled.

"Yeah, I'd have no problem staying," Tevez said. "My family are here, my children are here, I'm happy, my wife is happy. I have two years on my contract and, yeah, I could stay longer."

That sounds good so far. Tevez continued.

"The new season is good for me. Seven kilos are off, so that's good for me and the club. Last year was difficult for me. After I came back, I played and we were champions. That was the best bit of last season.

"A year ago was the most difficult bit. Now is now. The problems of last season are finished. Now I'm happy, Roberto is happy, the club are happy. The problem is finished.

So, Carlos says he is happy, he's lost 7 kilos and the problems of last season are behind him. Mancini has also said the problems of last season are finished now and the club and fans should all move on.

So what would hold the club back from signing the player to a new deal?

The Case For A Contract Extension

*Tevez is one of Europe's, and thus the worlds better strikers, and he possesses a very unique skill set to boot.

*He seems motivated and has a new, professional attitude to boot which is highlighted by the weight loss and the apologies.

*He is entering the peak years of his career just now and has very little injury history to worry about.

*Failing to sign him to a new deal would potentially allow a great player to sign for a competitor and thus that team to profit from Tevez's peak years.

The Case Against Signing Tevez To A New Contract

*We have to start with Munich and how that night soured his standing with Man City suits.

*His agent.

*Concerns about his long term commitment and conduct issues flaring up again once he is signed to a new deal.

*Is it a good idea to sign Tevez to a new contract and probably paying the player north of £225k per week when he may be 33 or 34 by the end of that new contract?

My Thoughts

I can find very few purely footballing reasons for not signing Carlos Tevez to a new contract. He is a great player, we would be ensuring Man City have the players' peak years, and quite frankly trying to replace his skill set ,should the player leave, would be impossible.

All the questions and concerns about locking up the players' future revolve around conduct, attitude and professionalism.

Tevez has shown at various times that he is lacking in all three of the above mental requirements of a pro footballer, he has a lengthy rap sheet and it must be decided firstly if his misdemeanors can be forgiven. Secondly, has the player matured and will he continue to mature as he gets older and become a more rounded, level headed individual and team-mate.

Tevez's contract expires at the end of the 2013/14 season which means that without a new deal signed at some point this season, the player would be starting pre-season next year with only a year remaining on his deal. We know of the problems of letting a players contract run down like this.

We can look at Robin van Persie sale or at Theo Walcott's situation at Arsenal, where doubt and rumour will dog the player this season until he signs a new contract, which he probably wont do. We shouldn't let either of these scenarios dog Man City or Carlos Tevez.

The way to avoid a forced sale with a contract expiring, or desperately trying to sign a player as his contract has only months remaining, would be to sign Carlos to a new contract at some point this season.

Sign the player to a new contract within the next six months. There is no footballing reason for which any club wouldn't extend Carlos Tevez's contract if the player was willing to extend, as he stated yesterday. If any of us would have doubts about offering an extension to the player for attitude or commitment reasons, just remember this.

His attitude in the future really cannot be any worse than he displayed last season in refusing to warm up, striking for 6 months and being around 10 kilos overweight. The worst displays of the dark side of the players character have passed, that disruptive wave has crested and has rolled back to leave only a memory of the high (low) water mark of his worst traits and poor behaviour toward the club. It's (relatively) blue sky and straight road from now on.

Sign him.