Micah Richards: Only Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo can replace Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez, but Mario Balotelli will think he can

Posted Monday, July 25, 2011 by Goal.com

Full-back believes only the Barcelona and Real Madrid spearheads can replace the Argentine at Eastlands, but reckons the confident Italian youngster will think he can do so too

Micah Richards believes that only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo or Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi can replace Carlos Tevez at Manchester City.

The Argentine has made it clear that he would like to leave the Eastlands outfit this summer, and was recently thought to be on his way to Corinthians.

However, the potential deal with the Brazilian outfit fell through and now he is reportedly attracting interest from Italian heavyweights Inter.

And Richards believes that if the 27-year-old does make the move away from City, Messi and Ronaldo would be the only two players in the world who would be able to fill the void at the club.

"Carlos has been such an important part of this team over the last two years that he’s going to be virtually impossible to replace. I mean, how do you replace Carlos Tevez?" Richards told The Mirror.

"In my eyes, on current form, he is one of the top three strikers in the world.

"It’s going to be hard and it will probably cost an awful lot of money.

"Perhaps the only way to do it would be to sign Messi or Ronaldo and I don’t think either of them will be leaving Barcelona or Real Madrid any time soon.

"Maybe Mario Balotelli or Edin Dzeko will step up and become the main man up front, although I am sure the manager will want to bring another striker in if Carlos goes.

"If you want to do well in the Premier League and Champions League then you need three, four, or even five, really top strikers.

"But we’ve got to be honest. Losing Carlos will be a massive blow to the club."

The full-back also believes that young striker Mario Balotelli's overly positive mentality will make him think that he can fill Tevez's shoes, if and when the Argentina international leaves the club.

"Knowing Mario like I do, he will think that he should be the No.1 man any way," said Richards. "He’s got all the talent in the world and, for me, he’s probably the best of his age group that there is.

"But he’s only 20. Carlos is what? 26 or 27? He’s in the prime of his career, while Mario is still learning his trade.

"To ask someone who is 20 to replace Carlos Tevez is a big ask – but Mario will think he is well capable of doing it."