Ferguson won't dwell on Tevez

Never one to dwell on past glories, Sir Alex Ferguson today gave short shrift when asked for his reaction to Carlos Tevez turning his back on a five-year contract offer at Manchester United.

The spiky Argentina international is this week expected to move across town to join local rivals Manchester City despite strong interest from clubs across Europe. The South American proved popular with the Old Trafford faithful in a successful two-year stay, but his criticism of Ferguson over a perceived lack of first-team English football and club officials for delaying contract talks have cast a shadow.

There was more evidence of this when Ferguson intimated the former West Ham favourite had made up his mind to leave United as far back as January. The Scot added his attempts to make contact with Tevez since had fallen on deaf ears, so confirmation of his decision to leave the champions did not come as a surprise.

"I half expected Carlos Tevez would be going a long time back," said the United boss.

"I think he maybe did a deal around January because I spoke to him and gave him an offer on the night we played Inter Milan and he never came back to me.

"I phoned him on holiday and he never got back to me and I texted him twice and he never got back to me then either, so obviously he had made his mind up a long time ago.

"He was a good player and did well for us. But he obviously assessed the situation and wanted to go somewhere else."

City are hopeful of clinching the signature of Tevez before they head off for a three-match tour of South Africa on Wednesday.

Nick Walsh writes features and football betting previews for Betfair.