Mancini remains unclear over Tevez
As the transfer window heads into its frenetic final stages, Tevez remains in Argentina, about to discover whether he will be forced into a rather humbling return to Manchester.
With prospective suitors Inter Milan and Paris St Germain out of the running, super-rich Russians Anzhi Makhachkala not under consideration despite claims of interest, and Tevez’s former club West Ham rating their chances of luring the South American to Upton Park on loan as so slim it is barely worth discussing, Tevez looks like he will be staying at City.
Yet, as Mancini knows only too well, the last hours before deadlines can trigger amazing deals, and with AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani not completely ruling out a further bid, uncertainty remains.
“I don’t know if he will be a City player after today,” said Mancini.
The chances of Tevez not being around appear to hinge on the unlikely instance of City contacting Milan to try and resurrect a deal for a player who was mentioned in a potential swap deal with Liverpool’s Andy Carroll last week. As that tentative inquiry was snubbed, it is hard to see why the Blues would be willing to enter further negotiations with club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak accused of trying to sign Tevez on the cheap less than a week ago.
“I will be in the office from 0900 to 1900 hours for the last two days of the transfer window,” Galliani said.
“I truly believe there will be no surprises. But who knows? In football, anything can happen.”
Yesterday Mancini was clear in his opinion the whole issue is an unwanted sideshow ahead of an important Premier League encounter with Everton at Goodison Park tonight.
“Tonight we go to sleep, tomorrow we wake up and we have a game. That is the most important thing for us between now and tomorrow night,” he said yesterday.
With Mario Balotelli serving the second game of a four-match suspension and both Yaya and Kolo Toure on African Nations Cup duty with the Ivory Coast, Mancini is relieved to have skipper Vincent Kompany available again.
The Belgium skipper has missed four matches since his controversial dismissal against Manchester United at the beginning of the month.
“It is important to have Vincent back,” Mancini said.
“He is a strong defender, who has improved a lot in the last two or three years.
“He is a leader and our captain, one of the best defenders in Europe now and someone who can still improve a lot.”
City’s abysmal Goodison Park record of one win in 13 trips means this is a fixture that Mancini cannot take lightly as his side look to preserve their three-point lead over Manchester United.
However, with 16 games remaining, the Blues chief does concede that the title looks set to be fought out between Manchester’s finest to the exclusion of everyone else.
“It is difficult for the others,” he said. “It is impossible that us and Manchester United can lose all the games.
“There are 16 games and anything can happen, including Tottenham coming back into the title race.
“But at the moment it is City and United.”
Everton boss David Moyes hopes his team can catch City on an “off night” tonight.
City hold a three point lead at the top of the table but have gone out of both domestic cup competitions since the turn of the year and been without some key players.
Moyes said: “I think all sides will go through periods of difficulty during a season and Man City are probably just in a bit of that at the moment.
“They have lost a couple of boys to the African Nations Cup and there have been a couple of disciplinary things which they see haven’t gone their way. It can sometimes just upset the rhythm at the club.
“Let’s hope it is upset because we are going to have to hopefully catch them on an off night and us play very well.
“Over the years we have always had quite a good record against Manchester City.
“The difference is they have improved, and they have improved from last season. You can see that from their league position.’’
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