Kia Joorabchian is growing impatient with the Old Trafford board as he was given an assurance in the summer a £30million deal to make the Argentine’s loan move permanent would be imminent.
Manager Alex Ferguson has since said the deal would not be done until the summer. But Joorabchian, who owns the striker’s rights, is not prepared to wait that long before sounding out other options with interest from both Real Madrid and Inter Milan — and no doubt across the road at Manchester City.
He fears Tevez’s price is being driven down by his lack of first-team starts. There are also question marks over whether the money is there for the deal right now with the club £600m in debt in the middle of a credit crunch.
Tevez, 24, has started only one of the last seven games since the arrival of £30.75m Dimitar Berbatov. He was also upset at Louis Saha’s No 9 shirt being saved for the Bulgarian.
Tevez would have been angry by his omission from the starting line-up against an understrength Celtic side in the Champions League on Tuesday. Ferguson made it clear Cristiano Ronaldo was tired — but, in the end, he started.