The Argentina star will be absent from Mancini’s line-up on Saturday against his old club West Ham at Upton Park after picking up a fifth booking of the campaign in the Premier League victory over Bolton.
But the talismanic ten-goal leading scorer has emphasised that he is at the club for the long haul and hungry to help the Blues land silverware despite being separated from his young family in Buenos Aires.
Mancini is urging his Champions League chasers to show at West Ham that they can still prevail when their super skipper is absent - but he believes the subject of Tevez’s future should now be shelved for good.
With crucial League games against Everton, Newcastle and Aston Villa to close out 2010, Mancini said: “We could talk about Carlos’ situation every week, but we must focus on a difficult month and a difficult game at West Ham.
“I’ve explained a thousand times - Carlos is a fantastic player, one of the most important players in Europe, in the world maybe, and I think he will stay here for a long time because he’s never spoken to me about leaving.”
Clearly, City will miss the influence of the suspended Tevez, who has been the Premier League’s most prolific marksman in 2010, but the boss added: “It’s a time that we can try to win without Carlos.
“We are missing two important players, Carlos and (suspended) Aleksandar Kolarov. But I think that the players who come in for them will play a good game.
“Yes, Carlos is an important player for us. But if we continue to play like we did against Bolton and in the second half against Stoke, then we can win without him.”
Manager Mancini confirmed that centre-half Kolo Toure has shrugged off a calf worry: “Kolo will be available for Saturday. We’ll test him tomorrow but he trained today with the team without a problem.”
