Corinthians still want Tevez, says Edu

Corinthians director of football Edu claims the Brazilian club are still interested in signing controversial Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez.

Corinthians failed in an attempt to buy the wantaway Argentina international in the summer and Edu last week said they would not been renewing their interest.

The former Arsenal midfielder told BBC Sport: "At the moment there are no plans to try and sign him again."

However, Edu has now suggested the Brazilians could be back in the reckoning to re-sign their former player, who is currently suspended by City pending an investigation into an alleged refusal to play as a substitute.

Edu told Sky Sports News: "It was quite difficult to sign him because at the time it was shortly before our transfer window.

"Now we are here [in England] and we will talk and see what the situation is and we will look to sign him in the summer.

"I will talk to the president - we offered £40million and now the money we had we have spent some of as that is football.

"We want to see how Tevez is and what his situation is, we will see if we can do a deal - he is very famous in Brazil and everyone loves him, and the fans want him."

Edu, who played for Arsenal between 2001-05, was back in London last week for the Leaders in Football conference at Stamford Bridge.

While there he did meet with Tevez's advisor Kia Joorabchian but the pair did not speak specifically about the player.

Edu said: "I spoke to him at the congress, but...not really about Tevez yet.

"We are quite friendly and have a good relationship, but not about Tevez yet.

"It is a lot of things to think about. Carlos Tevez has a lot of things around him."

Tevez, 27, is due back at City this week after being suspended the day after the club's Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich on September 27.

Manager Roberto Mancini claimed the player refused to come off the bench to play when asked in the second half. He added that Tevez was "finished" at City as a result of the incident.

City are conducting an investigation into the events at the Allianz Arena but are yet to report their findings.

PA