Carlos Tevez to join Corinthians

Wow! That’s all one can say… Manchester City captain Carlos Tevez could really be leaving the bright lights of Europe to return back home to South America.

The world has today woken up to the news that Man City and Tevez’s old Brazilian club Corinthians have agreed a fee for the Argentina star.

City manager Roberto Mancini has confirmed that an agreement had been reached with the Sao Paulo club for the transfer of Tevez, who finished joint top-scorer in the English Premier League last season with 20 goals.

Man City turned down a reported 40 million pound bid from Corinthians last week because it is believed they were holding out for £50m for Tevez. However, speaking on City’s pre-season tour of North America, Mancini broke the big news: “We have an agreement with Corinthians but Carlos now is still a City player.”

Carlos Tevez

Corinthians interest, ignited by Tevez’s admission earlier this month that he wished to leave City for the sake of his family in Argentina, at first seemed like some sort of publicity stunt.

But it was serious.

Last week the Corinthians president Andres Sanchez said Juventus had entered the race to sign Tevez and insisted his club would not increase their offer for the want-away striker.

Tevez’s advisor, Kia Joorabchian, revealed a few days ago that a deal with Corinthians was “close”, with Tevez himself keen on a return to the club which he successfully played for between January 2005 and August 2006.

The 27-year-old Tevez, who joined City from Manchester United at the beginning of the 2009/10 season and also previously played for West Ham, has a contract with Man City until June 2014.

Asked whether the man Carlitos Tevez would now be discussing personal terms with Corinthians, Mancini replied: “I don’t know this. I repeat, at the moment, Carlos is still a City player. I want to wait. At the moment we are here, we are working with the other guys. We should think about this.”