Moving to Manchester City has been the making of Carlos Tevez, says manager Roberto Mancini.
Tevez, 26, is playing the best football of his career as he heads into a showdown with his old club in Saturday's Manchester derby.
Yet he was allowed to slip through Manchester United's fingers because Sir Alex Ferguson did not feel he was worth the £25million asking price last summer.
Mancini said: "Carlos is already an important player for us but he could improve over the next year.
"He has already improved this year because he has never scored 28 goals before. I'm happy about that.
"When you pick the top players, you pick Rooney, Messi and Tevez.
"Messi is the best at the moment. But Carlos and Rooney are very, very close."