MANCHESTER: Carlos Tevez sealed his move to Juventus on Wednesday after four controversy-filled years at Manchester City and was handed the unenviable task of trying to emulate club hero Alessandro Del Piero.
Italian champions Juve announced his arrival with a picture of the Argentine striker holding up Del Piero’s old number 10 jersey alongside club president Andrea Agnelli.
A statement said he had reached a deal to sign a three-year-contract. There was no word on the transfer fee but media reports have put it at 12 million euros (US$15.60 million).
“The Argentine is used to winning. He has done so wherever he has been,” Juve’s website (www.juventus.com) added.
Del Piero spent almost 20 years at Juve, helping them win the 1996 Champions League and sticking by the club when they spent one season in Serie B in 2006/07 after being demoted for match-fixing.
He left for Australia’s Sydney FC last year having broken almost every Juve record in the book.
Michel Platini and Roberto Baggio also famously wore Juve’s number 10 shirt.
Handing Tevez the ex-Italy striker’s former shirt is a mark of intent from Juve, who have won the Serie A twice in a row without a big name forward but are now targeting renewed European glory.
Coach Antonio Conte has rotated between any two of Sebastian Giovinco, Alessandro Matri, Mirko Vucinic and Fabio Quagliarella, who have shared the goals evenly between them.
Athletic Bilbao forward Fernando Llorente joins Juve next month.
Matri could now be sacrificed to suitors AC Milan, who had been tracking Tevez.
Earlier Tevez was whisked to Turin after hundreds of fans greeted him amid chaotic scenes at Milan’s Malpensa airport.
Television pictures showed Tevez being mobbed by fans before being taken back into the terminal by Juventus staff and put into a car via a side entrance.
During his seven years in England the spotlight, whether positive or negative, was never far from the 29-year-old.
Tevez began his spell in England in 2006/7 at West Ham United, scoring the goal that kept the east London club in the English Premier League.
He moved to Manchester United the following season but headed to City in 2009 amid reports of disagreements with then-manager Alex Ferguson.
At City, he captained the club to victory in the FA Cup and was part of the side that won the Sky Blues’ first league title since 1968.
But his relationship with former boss Roberto Mancini soured after he was stripped of the captaincy and then refused to warm-up when told to during a Champions League match against Bayern Munich in 2011/12.
That sparked a protracted exile and Mancini vowed that he would never play for City again but he eventually returned and ended up as the club’s joint-top scorer last season with 17 goals.
Mancini was sacked after City’s surprise FA Cup final defeat to relegated Wigan last year and after the club failed to progress beyond the Champions League stages for the second successive season.
He was replaced by former Malaga manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Tevez’s departure could open the door for a new arrival such as Napoli’s Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani, with City having already recruited Jesus Navas and Fernandinho in the close season. — Reuters/AFP