Mancini plans crunch Tevez talks
The Argentina forward submitted a formal transfer request at the weekend, claiming his relationship with key executives at the club had broken down “beyond repair” and his representative Kia Joorabchian yesterday accused the club of reneging on promises made to the player.
Tevez did not travel with the rest of the City squad for the Europa League group match against Juventus in Turin tonight, and Mancini said: “I haven’t spoken to him yet. He is our player and I hope he continues to play for us and score for us.
“I will speak with him on Friday.”
Mancini said Tevez’s transfer request had come as a surprise, at a time when the club find themselves in third place in the Barclays Premier League.
“I am disappointed because we are in a good moment and in a good position in the table and our focus must be on this,” the Italian continued.
“I want to speak to him. Carlos has three-and-a-half years left on his contract.”
Asked whether he thought he could change the player’s mind, Mancini said: “I don’t know, I don’t know. Carlos is our player and will stay with us. It is important we speak. We have important games coming up against Juventus and against Everton on Monday and lots of (other) important games this month. I speak with him a lot — we spoke only last week. I hope he continues to be unhappy if he is scoring goals like this,” he joked.
Mancini has chosen to rest a number of senior players with qualification assured and that important Barclays Premier League match against Everton to come on Monday.
Jo is the only senior striker in the group as Emmanuel Adebayor is still carrying a knock and Roque Santa Cruz is not on their squad list.
Mancini is determined to finish the group stages in style and top the table.
Juventus have already been eliminated, despite lying second in Serie A, with Lech Poznan also progressing.
Victory for City in the Stadio Olimpico will ensure the number one spot and that is Mancini’s aim, now he is back home in Italy.
He said: “It is important to win because we want to top the group. We prefer not to meet the teams who come from the Champions League. It is also important for the players because we have a lot of matches coming up and we need everyone.”
Mancini has named a 19-squad, a mix of senior and young players, with an important match against Everton in mind on Monday.
Mario Balotelli is among those absent but the City manager said there were only football reasons for his decision despite the former Inter Milan striker being racially abused by some Juventus fans last year.
With nothing to play for and an eye on Sunday’s Serie A game at Chievo, Juventus boss Luigi Del Neri will also field an under-strength line-up.
For Juve, full-back Zdenek Grygera could return from a knee injury, while Nicola Legrottaglie will definitely play.
Filippo Boniperti, grandson of Juve legend Giampiero Boniperti, is among a group of youngsters who may play — along with Niccolo Giannetti, Vincenzo Camilleri, Marcel Buchel and Manuel Giandonato.
Man City (from): Given, Taylor, Boateng, Richards, Zabaleta, Boyata, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Milner, Vieira, A Johnson, Jo, Mee, Elabdellaoui, Wabara, Ibrahim, Nimely, Chantler, Kay.
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