Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has admitted that he is disappointed that Argentine talisman Carlos Tevez has yet to apologize to him but the Italian manager simultaneously hailed the former Manchester United striker as a “fantastic attacker”.
After an interview with Il Corriere dello Sport, it looks as if Mancini is eager to give Tevez yet another chance to make it work at Etihad Stadium.
Tevez has not played for City since he allegedly refused to enter the match versus Bayern Munich when the club were down 2-0.
The striker was subsequently suspended two weeks without pay pending a investigation by the club.
“I just want to think about the team and what’s happening on the pitch,” Mancini told Il Corriere dello Sport.
“We all make mistakes and every error can be repaired.
“It would have been enough to apologise to close the entire case, but he didn’t want to.
“It’s now up to the team to decide what happens to him now.
“I just want to think about the team and what’s happening on the pitch but Tevez remains a fantastic attacker.”
Mancini also found time to hail the ever-so-changing maturity of fellow Italian Mario Balotelli.
“I think that he has really changed, although you can never say this with certainty.
“He has behaved liked a real man though and a good professional and if he keeps this up, he can be like Messi or Ronaldo.”
We have heard this before from Mancini, but Balotelli’s scintillating form of late has perhaps warranted the highest of praise.
The most surprising story of the day comes out of Old Trafford, where Sir Alex Ferguson told reporters that the club will give him “another year” on his contract that would have expired in 2012.
With Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck both performing at very high levels, Berbatov has been relegated to the bench for the most part, but Sir Alex confirmed that he has not forgotten about the Bulgarian hitman.
“Dimitar is still in my thoughts,” the Scottish boss told reporters.
“I have read some things but there is absolutely no reason for me to let him go. He is an outstanding footballer and we will give him the extra year.
“It is unfortunate the form of Javier Hernandez over the last year has been outstanding, but he [Berbatov] plays a great role and he trains well.
“He has no complaints. The boy is a great professional and we are happy for him to be here.
“You need a good number of strikers in the modern day. If you look back to 1999, we had four great strikers. They all played their part.
“That is exactly what will happen today.”
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