Argentine returns to Manchester after three-month exile; reveals details of feud with manager
Argentine returns to Manchester after three-month exile; reveals details of feud with manageru00a0
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Carlos Tevez returned to England tomorrow but has accused Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini of treating him "like a dog" in the incident which sparked the rift between club and player.
Look who's back: Man City striker Carlos Tevezu00a0arrives with his family
at Manchester airport yesterday. Pic/AFP
The striker claimed Mancini was in a foul mood and swore at him as he sat on the bench during the Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich at the end of September.
Roberto Mancini
Talking about the circumstances surrounding his refusal to warm up on September 27, the Argentina international said in a Fox Sports interview broadcast in translation on Sky Sports News: "I was kind of in a bad mood and when he brings on (Nigel) de Jong and takes off (Edin) Dzeko and we're losing 2-0 I thought it was a defensive substitution so I decided to sit back on the bench.
I had warmed up
"I had already warmed up for 10 minutes and he has this attitude that he wants to lose 2-0 instead of 4-0.
"So I sat down and at the same time Dzeko comes off and is really angry and has a go at Mancini. He then sees the tunnel is closed so he has to sit down next to him and they start to have an argument.
"Dzeko was speaking Bosnian and Mancini would swear at him in Italian so it was a real mess. "So I go and sit down and he doesn't see me because he's having this discussion. But then he turns around and sees me and you can imagine what happens. He's in the middle of an argument so then he tells me to keep on warming up and treats me like a dog.
"So when he spoke to me in that tone of voice, and I said 'No, I'm not going out'. So I was willing to play, but the coach was in such a foul mood because he had that argument with Dzeko.
He swore at me
"He started on me as well, started swearing at me, that was him, because I was very calm. I was just sitting on the bench and you can see from the footage that I was calm and just talking with (Pablo) Zabaleta. Mancini said some horrible things to me."
It appeared at one stage last month Tevez, who returned to Argentina after the row with City, would be shipped out as Inter Milan, AC Milan and Paris St Germain all showed an interest, but no move was forthcoming as he stayed at Eastlands.
Mancini made it clear yesterday, following a 1-0 win at Aston Villa that enabled his side to return to the top of the Premier League, he was still seeking an apology from Tevez.
The player did adopt a conciliatory approach towards the City fans and claimed their angry reaction was understandable as they did not have the full facts. "I believe they were misinformed, they weren't told the facts," he said.
"So that when they were told I didn't want to play they naturally turned against me. "If a player doesn't want to play for the team that's paying his wages it's only natural for them to turn against that player.
"I gave everything to that club and when I saw them burning my shirt with my name on it or hurling insults at me it really hurt. I gave everything to that club and what I love above all is to play football."
I was not wrong
Tevez is to return to the Etihad Stadium and resume his career with City that has been placed on hold for the last three and a half months. "In two weeks I play, I think.
"I do not think I was wrong, but if they (the club) think so I apologise. I am ready to return, to win and do the best for the club's shirt.
"Hopefully I can help City to be champions again. The most important thing for me is to return to get fit. I always said that at 28 I would retire. Today I say: 'No, I have much more to give'."
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