Tevez committed to City, insists Mancini
The Argentina star told Mancini in a midweek meeting that he wanted to stay at City, despite the club missing out on a place in next season’s Champions League.
Tevez had been heavily tipped to quit Eastlands this summer after reportedly becoming disenchanted with life under his new boss.
But Mancini insists the former West Ham and Manchester United forward is keen to stay and help the Blues become a major top-flight force.
“I have spoken with Carlos and asked him whether he was happy to stay here,” revealed Mancini. “He said he was very happy, that he wanted to improve and wanted to win with Manchester City. This is important.
“Carlos is a top player. He can set the example for the others.”
Tevez collected City’s player of the year award on Thursday night, a fitting accolade after his stellar first season following such a controversial move from United.
However, recent complaints about Mancini’s preference for double training sessions were the first signs of a rift between manager and player.
However the Italian insists Tevez understands his position.
“I have told him that in any week where we don’t have a midweek match on one day we must have two training sessions,” he said.
“Because we have qualified for the Europa League, the chances are we will be playing nearly every Thursday and Sunday.
“But if we want to improve we must work harder than this year.”
Meanwhile, Gareth Barry will miss City’s final game of the season at West Ham tomorrow.
The midfielder suffered an ankle injury in Wednesday’s home defeat to Tottenham and Mancini estimates it could rule Barry out for four weeks, placing his hopes of being fit for the World Cup in peril.
Stephen Ireland (ankle) will also miss out as City look for a victory that would confirm them in fifth spot.
Elsewhere, West Ham midfielder Jack Collison is set to be out of Barclays Premier League action until the new year after undergoing knee surgery.
Collison, 21, never fully recovered from the cartilage damage he suffered last season and he has not played since Wales’ 1-0 defeat to Sweden on March 3.
West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola’s own future remains a matter of fevered speculation – but the man himself will not discuss the issue until his meeting with club owners David Gold and David Sullivan next week.
“I need to focus on the game and then I will talk to the club and we will see what the outcome is going to be.”
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