Former Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez has revealed one of the reasons he refused to learn English during his seven year spell in the Premier League.
Tevez played for three Premier League clubs — including West Ham, Manchester United and Man City — but during those spells he didn’t bother to learn the English language, which must have been challenging at times. He joined West Ham in 2006 before winning the title at both United and City.
This meant that if team-mates or staff wanted to speak to Tevez, they would have to do so in Spanish only.
When speaking to Argentinian radio station DSportsRadio, Tevez explained that it was his uncle’s experiences in the Falklands War that shaped his animosity towards England.
“I had a cultural problem with the English,” Tevez said. “I didn’t want to learn English, I wanted them to learn Spanish.
“I have an uncle who played in River Plate. He’s the only River supporter in my family. He played in the reserve team and when he was going to make his debut with the first team, he got called up to fight in the Falklands War.
“He suffered after that and became an alcoholic. That marked me a lot because he was very close to me.”
This obviously hit close to home for Tevez, therefore, it’s something that he feels strongly about.
Tevez added: “The seven years I spent in England were: ‘Okay, I’m here for work but I’m not getting used to English culture. Everything has a reason.
“Very few people know this story but today I can tell it.
“You want to speak to me. Then you learn Spanish, because I’m not going to learn English.”
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