Roberto Mancini has declared Carlos Tevez is "finished" at Manchester City after an incredible night of controversy in which the Argentinian refused to come on as a second-half substitute in the 2-0 defeat by Bayern Munich.
Mancini will hold emergency talks with City's owners from the Abu Dhabi United Group on Thursday and the manager made it clear he wants them to agree that the striker never plays for the club again.
Asked if he will ever pick Tevez again, he replied: "No. If we want to improve like a team, like a squad, Carlos cannot play with us. With me, no – it is finished.
"It may not be my decision but if I'm deciding then, yes, he goes. For me, if a player earns a lot of money playing for Manchester City in the Champions League and he behaves like this – he cannot play again. Never. He has wanted to leave for the last two years. For two years I have helped him, and now he has refused to play. Never again."
City were so concerned about the prospect of angry supporter reaction to Tevez that they made the extraordinary move of asking for extra security to greet the team on arrival at Manchester airport in the early hours of the morning.
Before leaving Munich Tevez had emerged from the City dressing room and made it clear he wanted to offer his version of events, denying that he had done anything wrong. "I didn't feel right to play, so I didn't," he said.
Informed that Mancini had said he would never wear City's colours again, he replied: "I was top goalscorer here last season, I always act professionally so it is up to him."
Mancini, however, was adamant. "This can never happen at a top club that one player can refuse to help his team-mates in an important match like tonight.
"In the next day I'm sure I will speak with Khaldoon [al-Mubarak] because he is the chairman and he will decide everything but let me ask a question: Do you think at Bayern Munich a player would ever behave like this. At Milan? At Manchester United? No. That is the answer. It is the same for everyone."
The controversy erupted after Mancini made his first substitution, replacing Edin Dzeko with Nigel de Jong. Dzeko reacted badly to the decision and Mancini was fiercely critical of him, too, saying the Bosnian would be dropped from Saturday's game at Blackburn Rovers.
The plan, according to Mancini, was to introduce Tevez "three or four minutes later" but the former Manchester United striker refused to leave the dugout for his warm-up.
"I make the decision [about substitutions], not Carlos," Mancini said. "I think he was disappointed because he didn't go out for the first change – maybe. But when I said 'Carlos, go, for 35 minutes to the end,' he refused. I think that in 35 minutes we can change every result. For me, it's a bad situation because it's impossible if a player decides he will not help the team. It's impossible. We have 11 players and I can't accept that one player refused to go on to the pitch. I can't accept this."
Mancini was asked whether a club with City's immense wealth could effectively sack Tevez by terminating his contract. "I don't know," he replied. The striker has submitted two transfer requests in the past year but a proposed summer move to Corinthians fell through.
Dzeko had directed a sarcastic thumbs-up at Mancini after his 55th-minute substitution before exchanging angry words with his manager and throwing down his tracksuit top. "He played a bad game, a poor game," Mancini said. "Next time, maybe if he plays better he can stay on the pitch. He needs to improve his behaviour. I should be unhappy with his performance – not Edin."
The manager continued: "This is the last time that one of our players leaves the pitch and moves his head like this [shaking head]. I can understand why a player is disappointed but I am furious with Dzeko and he will sit the next game next to me. This is the last time he has this behaviour. He is disappointed. But the manager can do what he thinks. We play every three days and one player can't play in every game."
Mancini had also confronted Pablo Zabaleta in the dugout after mistakenly believing that he heard him say something in Tevez's favour. "With Pablo, I made a mistake," he said. "I have spoken with Pablo now and it's nothing."
Mancini's anger extended to the rest of his team. "We played well for only 30 minutes and we conceded stupid goals. We have another four games and in my opinion we can still go into the second stage. If we win the next three games we will go through. But a situation like tonight? Never."
