Filed under: Manchester City, Premier League, Football
Carlos Tevez is approaching his second anniversary at Manchester City so logic suggests the Argentine striker with a nomadic track record must be getting ready for another move.After all, Tevez has not stayed more than 23 months at any of his previous three clubs.
But will an FA Cup triumph at Wembley on Saturday, together with the club's success in qualifying for next season's Champions League play-offs, convince Tevez that he is better off staying at Eastlands despite another very public spat with Roberto Mancini?
Tevez signalled his return from a four-match injury absence by becoming embroiled in a touchline spat with the City manager during Tuesday's hugely significant victory over Tottenham.
Mancini, giddy with delight at securing his club, which 12 years ago was anchored in the third tier, a place at the top table of European football, did his best to play down the incident afterwards.
But the occasionally volatile relationship between Mancini and Tevez, who looked aggrieved to spend so long on the substitutes' bench before his late cameo, resurfaced on a night of celebration.
Anxious to prove his fitness ahead of the Wembley showdown with Stoke after a hamstring strain, Tevez had been warming up for much of the second half and had just sat down when Mancini turned around demanding to know why he had taken his place on the bench.
Tevez was clearly unhappy and shouted angrily in the Italian's direction as he jogged past him although the player was laughing by the time he was summoned back down the touchline.
But the incident only served to highlight the simmering tension that still exists between club captain and manager.
Tevez is still three months short of his fifth anniversary in England yet the £40 million-rated striker is already serving his third different club, with speculation mounting the 27-year-old former Manchester United and West Ham player is preparing to leave Manchester this summer for Inter Milan.
Keeping Tevez has to be a priority for Mancini as the loss of one of the most prolific strikers in the Premier League would damage City's hopes of mounting an authentic title challenge next season.
Yet the fall out from December, when the scorer of 42 goals in 64 Premier League appearances went public with his desire to leave before performing a u-turn, appears on-going.
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