Juventus striker Carlos Tévez reportedly heading back to Boca Juniors

The day Carlos Tévez decided to go back to Boca Juniors was never going to be a shock to anybody. It's basically been an assumed formality ever since the 31-year-old Argentine joined Juventus before the 2013-14 season. And a lot of us figured, after everything we've heard in the media, that rather important bit of news might come some time this summer.

Juventus reportedly wanted a decision by the end of the week, which was then confirmed by Beppe Marotta.  According to Gianluca Di Marzio of Sky Italia, Tévez has made his decision and Juventus has gotten the final verdict a couple of days early. And, unfortunately for those of us who like a certain team that wears black and white stripes on a regular basis, it looks like it won't be involving Carlitos wearing that same jersey next season.

More from Di Marzio:

Carlos Tevez's much anticipated decision has arrived, and it's not good news for Juventus fans.

Okay, brace yourselves...

The former Manchester City striker has informed Juventus through his agent that he wants to return to Argentina, specifically at his former club Boca Juniors. At this point his transfer is almost certain, after two years in Serie A Carlos Tevez has his suitcase ready.

Team that report with an interview Pavel Nedved gave to Di Marzio's website...

Nedved: "I think Tevez wants to go home. This year he has given so much, but he appears to have made his decision now. "

— Juvefc.com (@juvefcdotcom) June 17, 2015

...and, yeah, you know where we're going with this.

Tévez may have one season left on the three-year deal that he signed when he moved from Manchester to Turin in the summer of 2013, but it seems as though we may never get to see him play out that third and final one. Marotta has said he will respect Tévez's decision no matter what it is, and it's not like he's been just sitting on his hands waiting for Carlitos to come to a final call.

Still, replacing Tévez — both on the field and his leadership within the squad — won't be easy or anything close to it. Nor should we expect it to be. Well, it's not like trying to replace a player that has scored 50 goals in 96 games over the last two seasons is ever some kind of simple task. Tévez was the world-class striker Juventus had been searching for, and that's exactly what they got. And when you consider the relatively low cost Marotta paid Manchester City acquire Tévez, then his value to the club the last two seasons becomes even greater.

So if this is close to being the goodbye, thank you, Carlos Tévez, for being awesome. Thank you for being you.