Carlos Tevez: I'm ready to return

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Carlos Tevez says he was treated "like a dog" by Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, but the Argentine forward also says he is ready to play for the club again.

"I hope I can help City be champions," Tevez said Monday in an interview with Fox Sports in Argentina.

Tevez has spent nearly three months on unauthorized leave in his native Argentina, continuing a long-running feud with the Premier League leaders that intensified in September when he refused to warm up in a Champions League match at Bayern Munich.

Tevez said Mancini and the club failed to tell the truth about what happened.

He said he was willing to play against Bayern, but was upset at Mancini's tone of voice when he asked him to warm up in the second half. According to Tevez, Mancini was at the time embroiled in an argument with Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko.

"He ordered me like a dog to warm up," Tevez said of Mancini. "The club never told the truth publicly about what really happened, and that's why I was angry."

After failing to move to another club in the January transfer window, Tevez appears ready to settle his differences with Manchester City.

"I've decided to return for personal reasons and turn around the situation and win over the fans," he said. "They turned on me after what happened with Bayern because they were poorly informed."

Having initially said it would be "impossible" to welcome Tevez back, Mancini's stance has since relaxed, saying after Sunday's 1-0 win at Aston Villa that the forward can play a role for City provided he apologizes for his insubordination that is believed to have cost him around $15.8 million (about 10 million pounds) in fines and lost earnings.

Paul McCarthy, Tevez's adviser, said Tevez is flying back from his native country on Monday because he "wants to be back playing football" and "wants to help Manchester City to win the title." McCarthy said "there has been a thawing" in the relationship between Mancini and Tevez.

Manchester City leads archrival Manchester United by two points for the Premier League lead.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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