City players return for pre-season amid Tevez speculation

Carlos Tevez’s transfer request has shown little sign of disrupting proceedings for Manchester City, with players returning for the first day of pre-season training yesterday and Stefan Savic expected to soon be confirmed as the club’s second signing of the summer.

Partizan Belgrade defender Savic, who has been in Manchester for a medical, is poised to complete his move to Eastlands just days after the arrival of Gael Clichy from Arsenal.

City are yet to make an official response to Tevez’s announcement on Monday night that he wants to quit the Blues, but it is likely to be have been met by club officials with little more than a resigned shrug.

The move was anticipated by the City hierarchy and they can relax in the knowledge that Tevez – who expressed similar sentiments about leaving in December only to be talked round by manager Roberto Mancini and owner Sheikh Mansour – has three years remaining on a contract that is estimated to be worth in excess of £200,000-a-week.

That means they have no reason to allow their 27-year-old skipper to go on the cheap and with the potential price-tag for the forward being up to £50million, his list of realistic suitors is not long.

Tevez, currently on international duty with Argentina at the Copa America, has cited a desire to be closer to his daughters.

It is something for which former City midfielder Garry Flitcroft has a certain amount of sympathy.

“When I signed for Blackburn from Manchester City, I could have gone to Arsenal,” Flitcroft told Sky Sports News.

“But I didn’t want to go to London because I didn’t want to leave my family, so in a way, I can tell what (Tevez) is saying.

“I’m sure for the City fans – and I’m a City fan as well – it is a big shock. They won’t want to lose Carlos Tevez because he is a fantastic player.

“You only have a short career, but at the end of the day, your kids are only young once as well.

“Whether this is an excuse to get away from there and go to another club, I don’t know, but I can see his issues, with wanting to be close to his family.”

It had been suggested that Liverpool might be looking to make a late bid to hijack Savic’s move to City, but it is the Blues who are set to seal the 20-year-old Montenegro international’s signature, subject to them securing a work permit for him.

Meanwhile, reported City target Sergio Aguero has confirmed he has received an offer from Juventus, but the striker insists his future will only be decided after the Copa America.

Aguero, Tevez’s international team-mate, announced his wish to leave Atletico Madrid last month.

“I am aware of Juve’s offer but only when the Copa America is over, will my future destination be known,” Aguero told reporters.

“There are negotiations going on with the Italian club but I don’t know how many millions they have offered for my services.”