Michael Carrick has advised Manchester United team-mate Carlos Tevez to stay at Old Trafford.
Tevez's future with the Premier League leaders remains in doubt as he nears the end of his two-year loan arrangement.
Reports suggest United are reluctant to meet the asking price to sign the Argentinian permanently, while Tevez is looking to secure regular first team football.
Real Madrid are favourites to sign the 25-year-old, but United midfielder Carrick is eager for Tevez to stay at United.
"We want him to stay, Carlos is a top player," Carrick told The Sun. "He has scored some very important goals for us over the last few years. We've got a world-class squad, we've got world- class players and Carlos is one of them. We want to keep moving forward as a team and as a squad so we'd like to keep our best players here. But it's down to the manager. I'm sure he knows the best way to make sure we do keep progressing."
Meanwhile, Carrick has also defended Dimitar Berbatov following the Bulgarian's penalty miss in last weekend's FA Cup semi-final shoot-out defeat by Everton.
Carrick added: "He's a vital player for us and I think he'll show that in these important games we've got coming up. There's no doubt he'll come good and he's only going to get better the longer he stays at United. The fans will see what a top-drawer player he is."
