Manchester City were crowned champions of Europe for the first time in their history on Saturday evening after beating Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League final in Istanbul.
31.05.2023 - 12:34 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Yaya Toure was still basking in the glory of defeating an 'unbeatable' Manchester United in the Champions League final when one of his toughest opponents flashed up on his TV.
Carlos Tevez, last seen in Rome trying to stop that glorious Barcelona side with Toure in central defence, was on his way to Manchester City. It was a deal that enraged Sir Alex Ferguson - particularly after the 'Welcome to Manchester' poster - as much as it delighted the newly-minted Blues, and also caught the attention of a squad as decorated as Barcelona's.
Toure paid attention to the power dynamic in Manchester when he saw Tevez had signed for United's closest rivals, and noted how badly Ferguson reacted to the news. A year later, he would join Tevez at the Etihad to end United's long reign and usher in a decade of extraordinary success for City.
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"Tevez was one of the biggest players and to take him from a big rival and bring him to you, you can maybe understand why Ferguson was frustrated and p*****," he said. "Tevez was incredible in that period.
"I was at Barcelona then but I remember being away at the time and seeing it on Sky and it was a big thing: ‘Tevez switches from United to City’. It was incredible.
"What we care about as players is what’s going to happen on the field. When a manager starts to talk about someone or other clubs it means he’s scared. It means he feels something going on there that is important. You don’t talk about someone like that if you don’t fear him.
"We just focused on ourselves and tried to do our best. Tevez had been someone who was so important in the reign of United. [Dimitar] Berbatov, [Wayne] Rooney, [Ryan] Giggs - this team
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