Manchester City players claim they 'didn't hear' Tevez's refusal to play at Bayern Munich
By Ian Ladyman
A group of Manchester City players who sat next to Carlos Tevez will tell investigators they did not hear him refuse to play at Bayern Munich.
The players — along with manager Roberto Mancini and Tevez — will be interviewed by legal representatives as part of a probe at the club following the astonishing events in the Allianz Arena.
Tevez has been banned for failing to take the field and accused by Mancini of refusing to play.
The former captain told Sky Sports after the game that he wasn’t in the right frame of mind, but, on Wednesday, insisted he had ‘warmed up and was ready to play.’
He claimed there was ‘confusion on the bench’ and that his position may have been ‘misunderstood’.
Mancini is aware he must avoid a split in his dressing room 24 hours before City play Blackburn in the Barclays Premier League.
He feels City’s attempts to sack Tevez could get messy and distract his squad because Tevez has several friends in the City dressing room.
The Italian believes Tevez has no future at the club, but wants City to sell his former captain in the transfer window, rather than sacking him if the allegations against him are substantiated.
Mancini fears the dispute has already wiped £30million off the player’s transfer value to somewhere near the £20m mark.
That would not be enough to replace him with Mancini’s main 2012 target, Robin van Persie.
He is prepared to tolerate Tevez’s presence back at the training ground when his current two-week suspension ends rather than attempt to throw him out and then watch him negotiate a high-profile free transfer to a big club.
Mancini called a meeting of his players on Thursday and told them they must not allow the drama to overshadow their efforts on the field.
He also spoke privately with Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko, who apologised for a show of petulance on being substituted in Munich.
Dzeko has not been fined and will be in the squad for the game at Blackburn tomorrow.
He said: ‘I know my reaction was bad. I have apologised for the reaction and Roberto has accepted it. He says it is ok .’