The future of Manchester United forward, Carlos Tevez, has become even more unclear after a number of reports appeared this morning with the Argentine forward saying he is almost certain he will leave at the end of the year.

Tevez’s future has been debated for months as manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has struggled to fit him into a side successfully with Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov.

A number of clubs are said to be sniffing around the edges waiting for Tevez to throw in the towel with Real Madrid the front-runners to snap up his services. United would do well to offer Tevez a new contract before the end of the season but his departure from Old Trafford now looks almost a certainty.

He said to the Spanish media: “Yes, it’s like that, it’s true I see myself more leaving United than staying here. I don’t see why I should lie to people or anything because the fans support me a lot as you can see. So I don’t have any reason to lie to them.”

“While I wear the United shirt I will leave my life on the pitch. You can see that in every game I play. I respect people a lot and I’m grateful to them. My future? I don’t know what will happen for my future. I would like to go to Spain, yes, but I don’t know yet.”

There are many reasons why his departure from Manchester United would be a bad move for the current European champions. Firstly, his work ethic is as good, if not, better than anyone else in the current side. Even if he is not playing well he will work his socks off in whichever role he is asked to do by the manager.

Secondly, he is one of the most gifted goal scorers in the Premier League. Regardless of the fact he has only scored three times in 25 Premier League appearances this season, Tevez has the ability to create space and magic out of nothing. These virtues will be seen in the Premier League run but United will struggle to replace these qualities if they let him leave.

He also appears to be more consistent than the lethargic Berbatov. You know exactly what you are going to get every time you put Carlos Tevez on a pitch. With Berbatov you don’t know if he is going to be up for it and play out of his skin or whether his attitude will reflect the penalty he took against Everton in the recent FA Cup semi-final.

No one can really argue with Sir Alex, he generally knows what he’s doing. Stam, Keane, Beckham and Van Nistelrooy all left Old Trafford and attracted him scrutiny but they all turned out to be the right decision and this could well end up the same.

If he leaves then Tevez will be badly missed in the Premier League. He was loved during his time at West Ham and his move to Manchester complimented his ability. Where ever he starts next season will be a privileged club.