Tevez looking to leave Man City

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has declared that he wants to leave the club this summer due to family reasons.

The Argentina international submitted a transfer request in December, before performing a U-turn and pledging his commitment to the club following talks.

His long-term future remained the subject of intense speculation but manager Roberto Mancini remained confident that the player would stay.

Mancini stated over the weekend that he planned to keep Tevez after a proposed swap deal with Inter Milan for Samuel Eto'o fell through.

Tevez has never made a secret of the fact that he misses his children, who have been living with their mother back in Argentina, and he wants to put their interests first.

"It is with great regret that I have to inform Manchester City of my wish to leave the club," he said in a statement.

"I would like to state that I have great respect for the club, its supporters and the owner, Sheikh Mansour, who has been nothing other than respectful to me.

"I hope that the people understand the difficult circumstances I have been living under the past 12 months, in regards to my family.

"Living without my children in Manchester has been incredibly challenging for me.

"Everything I do, I do for my daughters, Katie and Florencia. I need to be closer to them and to spend more time with them.

"I need them to be happy because my life is about them now. I need to be in a place where they can adapt.

"Being captain of Manchester City, qualifying for the Champions League, winning the FA Cup and finishing as top-scorer last season has made me very proud.

"I hope that most of the City fans will understand that I have given them my all on the pitch and that my dedication to the City cause has been 100% on the pitch.

"I hope I have done my bit to help City continue their progress towards their ambition to be champions of England and to advance in the Champions League.

"I have no doubt that the players and management of City will achieve great success in the future."

Tevez is currently on international duty with Argentina at Copa America.



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Mourinho looking ahead to Barcelona

Jose Mourinho is looking forward to another meeting with Barcelona in the Champions League.



After wrapping up a 5-0 aggregate victory over Tottenham on Wednesday, the Real Madrid has boss moved closer to a third European crown, having previously claimed the trophy with Porto and Inter.



A tie with arch-rivals Barcelona awaits them in the semi-finals, and Mourinho has plenty previous experience of playing the Catalan outfit in this competition.



"I have to train with ten men, how to play with ten men," Mourinho told ITV on his plans for a meeting with Barcelona.



"I go there with Chelsea, I finish with ten. I go there with Inter, I finish with ten. I have to train to play with ten men because it can happen again."



Mourinho was happy to see Real finish the job off against Spurs in midweek, with most of the work having been done during a 4-0 first leg victory.



On Wednesday's showdown at White Hart Lane, which his side won courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo shot which squirmed through Heurelho Gomes' grasp.



"It was difficult. If they had scored in the first-half, it would have been even more difficult," he said.



Mourinho defended his selection, despite losing Ricardo Carvalho to suspension for the semi-final.



"I think I was right when I decided to play with a good team," he continued. "Tottenham had a couple of chances and of course 4-0 is a good difference but if they scored in the first half with an incredible crowd and a good team it could have be difficult.''



"They played with a lot of pride, with great motivation and the public were fantastic in getting behind them. They gave us a very difficult match.



"Probably the result shouldn't have been our victory, I think a draw would have been fair and a good bonus for them after what they gave. It was difficult, but of course I am happy to be in the semis."



Manchester United and Schalke will contest the other semi-final and Mourinho admits he would relish the opportunity to test himself against Sir Alex Ferguson at Wembley.



"I expect Man U to be there, yes," he said.



"They are the better team. They have a different stature than Schalke at this level. But football is football and Sir Alex will tell his players that you have to respect opponents, even if you know that you are the best team.



"I hope Man United is at Wembley and if it is Man U against Real, that would be the perfect final for me."



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