Carlos Tevez's private Man Utd comments to Man City team-mates speak volumes

It has emerged how Carlos Tevez used his time at to fuel Manchester City's winning mentality. The striker spent two years at United, winning two titles and the , before controversially moving across Manchester.

In 2009, City snapped up the Argentina international from United, much to United's chagrin. Upon heading to the blue half of Manchester, took it upon himself to impart the lessons learned from Sir to his new colleagues.

Even with City's financial clout to bring in high-calibre talent, Tevez believed that sharing the insights from his stint at United was vital to ending the club's wait for his trophy. This illustrates just how far United were ahead of their local rivals before Tevez and his team-mates helped usher in an ongoing era of success at City.

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In the year that followed, as Yaya Toure joined City from , he discovered Tevez diligently attempting to instil United's winning culture at City to propel them towards glory. "Because Tevez was already there. And Tevez, as well, was someone... Of course, in training, he was not the best. But he was the one with the mentality," Toure recalled on the podcast, sponsored by Airways.

"He was like, 'Guys, when I was...' Because he was always saying that. 'Guys, when I was with Man United, the players like [Nemanja] Vidic, , all that. Well, that's what they do. Yeah, guys, we have to do more'.

"And that's training, even in the games. And everywhere, even in the dressing room where we sat, we had a meal together after the training. It was like dedication. It was application and discipline.

"Because, of course, when the clubs have to come in, the clubs, before coming to that period, we have a lot of things going through. We have players who are not focused enough. We have players who are not competing enough."

Despite Tevez not always shining on the training ground, as revealed by Toure, the striker captained the team to their first major trophy in decades by winning the 2011 final, with Toure netting the only goal against .

This marked the beginning of a glorious era for City, which saw them snatch their first league title since 1968 in the following season – a win made all the sweeter by occurring on the last day and pipping United to the post.

Tevez relished the tension between the Manchester rivals, epitomised by City's provocative 'Welcome to Manchester' billboard to mark his transfer. The promotional stunt vexed Ferguson, who criticised City for taking shots at United.

"All they can talk about is Manchester United," the United boss said. "They can't get away from it. That arrogance will be rewarded. It is a go at us, that's the one thing it is. They think taking Carlos Tevez away from Manchester United is a triumph. It is poor stuff."

Tevez made his ambitions crystal clear when he signed for City after leaving Old Trafford. Despite City's 10th-place finish in the previous season, he was determined to help the club win trophies.

"The objective is to win the league, that is what we have talked about and I'm here to make my contribution to the cause on a daily basis," Tevez said after being unveiled as a City player. "I'm here to win things and I make that pledge now to my team-mates and our fans.

"I will give everything to help City become one of the biggest and most important clubs in England - and win some trophies."

Tevez's time at United saw him score 34 goals in 99 games, but he found the back of the net with even greater frequency at City, scoring 73 times in 148 appearances. His successful four-year stint at City ended when he joined in 2013.

Listen to the full Rio Meets Yaya Touré interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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