City knock back Corinthians' £40 million offer for Carlos Tevez

High-level discussions took place at City yesterday and it was decided to turn down the offer, which was submitted late on Monday.

It maintains the level of uncertainty surrounding Tevez's future, with the player desperate to leave for family reasons and City refusing to sanction the departure of their skipper without adequate compensation.

No reason has been given by City for their stance, which will not go down well with Tevez, who is currently at the Copa America in Argentina. However, when the 27-year-old publicly expressed a desire to move away from the club last week, City officials immediately stressed that with three years left on the striker's contract, they were in the strongest bargaining position.

Using the 50 million Chelsea paid Liverpool for Fernando Torres as a guide, City pointed out that as they regarded Tevez as one of the world's best forwards, they saw no reason why he should be allowed to leave on the cheap. And, having discovered it could cost around 45 million to get Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero in as a replacement, it appears City's stance remains the same.

Indeed, City have retained an admirable air of calm since the latest Tevez furore began. The club are insistent there is more to the player's complicated position than merely wanting to be closer to his two daughters and wife Vanesa.

Tevez's trusted advisor Kia Joorabchian is no longer on speaking terms with chief executive Garry Cook and the belief at the newly named Etihad Stadium is that this lies at the root of the problems. The question now is whether Corinthians can find even more money, having surprised many observers by offering such a huge sum in the first place.

Not that Joorabchian ever expected a transfer to go through smoothly. For all the off-field trauma, Tevez is a key figure in Roberto Mancini's squad as well as their main goalscorer. The structure of the transfer may also have been a problem for City, who are capable of dealing in up front payments thanks to the vast wealth of owner Sheikh Mansour.

"It is a big deal and a tough deal, because it is one of a very big nature and it might not be simple," Joorabchian said earlier. "We wait to see. First and foremost we have to respect that City have to make a formal answer.

"If they do accept, then everyone will be running to make it happen. If they don't we will have to see what other options would be available for him. Carlos has a lot of respect for City but unfortunately his wife and daughters have not been able to adapt.

"They have lived in Manchester for just over four years and last year they found it very hard. They returned to Argentina and the situation was very difficult for Carlos from a family and personal perspective."

Meanwhile, Tevez's strike partner Emmanuel Adebayor looks certain to be fined after failing to report for training. Adebayor appears to have no future at City and is holding out for a move to Real Madrid after spending the second half of last season there. Evidently, he has no desire to return.