Manchester City agrees to sell Tevez to Corinthians

LONDON (Reuters) -- Manchester City have agreed to sell Carlos Tevez to Brazilian side Corinthians although a fee for the 27-year-old has yet to be finalised, City's manager Roberto Mancini said on Monday.

Mancini, speaking in Vancouver where City are continuing their pre-season North American tour, told Sky Sports News: "We have an agreement with Corinthians but Carlos now is still a City player."

Last week, City rejected a 40 million pounds ($64.47 million) bid from Corinthians, where the Argentinian played for 18 months between 2005-06.

The English Premier League side are believed to want around 50 million pounds for the player who joined them two years ago from Manchester United. Tevez says he wants to return to South America to be closer to his family and his two young daughters.

Mancini said he did not know the current status of the negotiations or whether personal terms had been discussed. Tevez was widely reported to be earning in excess of 200,000 pounds a week at City.

"I don't know this. I repeat, at the moment, Carlos is still a City player," he added. "I want to wait. At the moment we are here, we are working with the other guys. We should think about this."

The player's advisor, Kia Joorabchian, said last week a deal with Corinthians was "close" with Tevez happy to return to one of his previous clubs, even though he was under contract to City for another three years.

Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott told Sky Sports News he would be disappointed to see his team mate leave but understood if he did.

"We'll be disappointed if Carlos leaves but it was down to the club and Carlos what was best for each other and they have come to an agreement so I wish both parties all the best.

"Carlos is his own man. Last season he played to 110 percent every game so none of us will be holding any grudges towards him and we'll wish him all the best if he does leave."

Tevez had indicated he wanted to leave City last October but was tempted to stay and played an influential part in guiding the club to third place in the Premier League and a berth in the Champions League for the first time.

City also won the FA Cup last season, their first major trophy since 1976, and have made no secret of their desire to become one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

With the spending power of the club's billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi behind him, Mancini has already said he wanted to sign Argentine Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid as Tevez's replacement if he left the club, which now looks likely.