IT MAY HAVE taken five long months, but Carlos Tevez has finally said he is sorry to Manchester City for his behaviour this season.
The striker has been involved in a bitter row with the club since September, when he refused to warm up during a Champions League tie with Bayern Munich and has not featured for the Premier League leaders since then.
Tevez spent the past three months in his native Argentina during a self-imposed exile and a reconciliation between the player and manager Roberto Mancini seemed impossible after the 27-year-old claimed he was treated ‘like a dog’ by the Italian.
However, the former Boca Juniors talisman returned to England last Tuesday and has attempted to patch things up with his owners by holding a lengthy meeting with his representatives and City’s director of football Brian Marwood last night.
This morning the club issued a statement on their website in which Tevez said: “I wish to apologise sincerely and unreservedly to everybody I have let down and to whom my actions over the last few months have caused offence.
My wish is to concentrate on playing football for Manchester City Football Club.”
The club added that the Argentine international has also retracted the appeal against a €2m fine he received for gross misconduct.
“Carlos has also withdrawn his appeal against the Club’s finding of gross misconduct which was due to be heard by a Premier League panel in the coming days,” the statement read.
“He has since begun a training program designed to return him to optimum fitness.”
Having a player of his calibre back for the league run-in would be a massive boost for the Citizens, who sit two points ahead of rivals United at the top of the table, but Tevez will need to prove his fitness to Mancini first as he has had little or no match practice in recent months.
He is everything that is wrong with football!