Carlos Tevez new doubts emerge over striker's future
Mancini and his coaching staff are endeavouring to play up the strength in depth of the Blues attack, and play down talk that they over-rely on the Argentinian.
And they are also batting away suggestions that Tevez is getting special treatment on the training ground to ensure he is at his best for the run in.
Brian Kidd, Mancini’s assistant, has acknowledged that City are making sure that they don’t over-train the striker ahead of a potentially frantic end to the season.
Of all the players at City, Mancini has taken the greatest care in his handling of Tevez. On the one hand, the manager handed his star striker extra responsibility with the captaincy last summer because he felt it would encourage him to interact better with his team-mates.
On the other, Mancini has been ready to ease the burden by giving Tevez time off when he has needed it in order to attend to family issues.
Anyone who has seen the Blues in action at any stage over the last season-and-a-half will understand Mancini’s approach.
Tevez is the heartbeat of the team, linking midfield to attack, foraging for the ball, refusing to give opposing defenders a moment’s peace and proving as comfortable setting up goals as scoring them.
Even when the striker slapped in – and then withdrew – a transfer request in December, Mancini did not strip him of the captaincy.
And even though Tevez’s English has shown little sign of improvement after four-and-a-half years in the country, the manager has not called his leadership skills into question.
City’s Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure, who spent three years at Barcelona, revealed this week that his conversations with Tevez are in Spanish.
“Having played in Spain, I learned Spanish so I can converse with him,” Toure said. “I think this is important.”
Toure is also fully aware of the striker’s value to the side.
“We really need Carlos to finish well for us this season,” he said. “We need all the team to do that, but especially Carlos Tevez.”
The statistics show why. Tevez was City’s runaway top scorer with 29 goals last season. His cool finish in Sunday’s 5-0 FA Cup victory over Notts County was his 50th for the club.
So the last thing the Blues needed as they prepare for a glut of league and cup fixtures was for Joorabchian to suggest that Tevez could soon be on his way out of Eastlands.
The Iran-born businessman, who acts as an adviser to the striker, has re-opened the wounds that seemed to be healing after December’s transfer request saga.
Joorabchian has suggested that Tevez may be heading back to South America to join Corinthians, throwing in United midfielder Anderson, Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes and Villarreal striker Nilmar as potential targets for good measure.
“I want to help Corinthians in their sporting quest and I can guarantee that Carlos Tevez would be happy to return to Brazil and play for Corinthians,” Joorabchian said.
“Ideally I would like a deal to be done swiftly, but in reality it will probably take time.”
City take a dim view these days of Joorabchian, who once enjoyed a close working relationship with chief executive Garry Cook. Blues officials felt the adviser was the driving force behind Tevez’s transfer request two months ago.
Whatever the striker’s long-term future holds – and that is something no one ought to predict with any confidence – his form on the pitch gives hope that City can achieve their twin aims this season of Champions League qualification and a trophy for the sideboard.
