Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov perhaps realised things were not working out for them at Manchester United when neither player made the team for last season's Champions League final against Barcelona in Rome.
Almost 12 months on, Berbatov remains stuck fast at Old Trafford, seemingly not trusted by his manager nor by some team-mates.
Tevez, meanwhile, remains so important to arch rivals Manchester City that he is likely to be forgiven for comments implicitly critical of his employers and manager Robert Mancini in an exclusive Sportsmail interview yesterday.
It is understood senior officials have been angered by Tevez's suggestions that Mancini trains his players too hard and that City should never have included the striker's image on the 'Welcome to Manchester' posters that upset his former boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, at the start of the season.
Nevertheless, Tevez, 26, will not be fined. The club's top scorer and most influential player, he is central to City's chances of sewing up that vital fourth place in the Barclays Premier League.
It has therefore been decided not to rock the boat ahead of Saturday's derby meeting with United at Eastlands.
Across the city, meanwhile, Berbatov is in limbo. If, as United expect, Wayne Rooney returns to fitness this week then his team-mate will not play against City.
Berbatov, signed for £30million two summers ago, has already become dispensable. It is unlikely the Bulgaria striker will be sold this summer. United's financial position is not healthy enough for them to sell on the cheap.
It would take a very good offer before a deal would be sanctioned. Nevertheless, Ferguson must sometimes look at Tevez - for whom United refused to pay £25m after his two-year loan spell ended last summer - and wonder if he let the wrong player go as he juggled his resources in the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo's exit.
Berbatov divides opinion among fans and team-mates. Some cannot see past his apparent lack of work-rate and the dreadful posturing so noticeable in the goalless draw at Blackburn on Sunday. Others recognise the 29-yearold's intelligence, touch and close control.
The statistics appear to indicate he has been inferior to Tevez this season in just about every way - even though he has been playing in a superior team and with better players when selected.
At United, Tevez was admired for his work-rate and commitment. Only on the back of regular games has the Argentina star's true form returned.
When he moved to City, the backroom staff were warned by those familiar with his routines at United that he was a poor trainer. Only regular games, they were told, would bring the best out of a player who was fond, in the words of one source, of 'a bottle of Coke and a bar of chocolate when he got home'.
Having seen his early weeks at City affected by the legacy of a knee injury, Tevez only hit his stride at the start of the winter. Subsequently, he has assumed the mantle of talisman from Craig Bellamy and his goal tally now stands at 28. Significantly, Tevez starts every game and is sure to play this weekend.
United have been boosted by news that Rio Ferdinand is making good progress in his bid to overcome a groin problem, while medical staff are very hopeful that Rooney will make a recovery.
That would again leave Berbatov looking on from the sidelines. A year on from Rome and little has changed for him.
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:10 pm