Tévez and RSC this week?

So say Monday's newspapers. If we believe them, we will have our all-South American strike force in place by the end of the week.

First Ian Herbert in The Independent says that a lack of a serious bid for Tévez from Chelsea means that he will be able to team up with Santa Cruz:

Chelsea consider Tevez to be overpriced and Manchester United's decision to effectively end contract talks on Saturday morning has not changed Abramovich's view, it emerged yesterday.

That leaves City with a clear run for Tevez. They would ideally like to tie up the player's services before the week is out, though Roque Santa Cruz is the player they will land first. The Paraguyan was due back from holiday in the early hours of this morning and a medical is likely to take place today. A £16.5m deal may be concluded in the next few days, though with the City manager Mark Hughes on holiday this week, Santa Cruz is unlikely to be unveiled as a City player immediately.

Neil Ashton in The Daily Mail has more on the nature of Tévez's proposed deal with City:

Carlos Tevez will join Manchester City on a five-year deal next week unless Chelsea match the £130,000-a-week salary on offer at Eastlands.

Tevez quit Manchester United on Saturday after two years at the club and the Argentinian is expected to sign for Mark Hughes’ ambitious side when he returns from a holiday in south America.

City and Chelsea have agreed to pay the £25.5m to secure the striker’s services, but Hughes has inched ahead after offering Tevez a guaranteed starting place in the team.

This is echoed by Alan Nixon in The Mirror who says that our deal with Tévez was sorted some time ago:

Carlos Tevez agreed to join Manchester City TWO WEEKS ago - and will complete the £47.5 million transfer in the next few days.

Tevez decided toquit Manchester United long before the end of the season because he felt Sir Alex Ferguson did not fancy him enough to be a 'first pick' and his handlerssorted out terms with their rivals.

City agreed to pay the £25.5 million asking price of his 'owners' andwill also hand the Argentinian forward around £100,000-a-week for the next fiveseasons in a staggering pay day.

And James Ducker in The Times has the equivalent details for the Santa Cruz deal:

City are on the verge of ending their tortuous pursuit of the player in a deal that could be worth up to £18 million with add-ons, depending on his success at the club.

Santa Cruz will undergo a thorough medical in Manchester today after returning to England from a holiday and, providing there are no unforeseen complications, he will become Hughes’s second signing of the summer after Gareth Barry’s £12 million arrival from Aston Villa.

It looks very likely, then, that by the end of the week our strikeforce for 2009/10 will be in place: and it will be the South American pairing of Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tévez. In terms of ability, experience and compatibility I can't think of many better partnerships that we could realistically forge this summer. I won't write too much until it happens - although I am away for all but 36 hours of 25 June - 5 July so may have to jump the gun just a bit. But I am quite confident and very excited about our successfully finalising these moves.