Tevez back in the fold

The Argentinian arrived back in Manchester on Tuesday after spending more than three months back in South America without City's permission. The 28-year-old was greeted by a huge media gathering at Manchester Airport and was ushered through the arrivals hall by police before travelling to City's training ground for a medical assessment.

It now remains to be seen when manager Roberto Mancini reintegrates his former captain back into his first-team squad. Mancini said Tevez was "finished" at the club after the player refused to warm up during their infamous Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich in September.

The Italian, however, has recently appeared open to the possibilty of Tevez playing again, although he has long maintained he must first apologise to be considered for selection.

Midfielder James Milner said at the weekend Tevez, the club's top scorer in the past two seasons, would be welcomed back and defender Joleon Lescott last night echoed those sentiments.

Lescott tweeted: "All I can say... is that all the players are excited to have Carlos, Kolo and Yaya [Toure, who have returned from the African Nations Cup] back to help achieve our goal."

Tevez did not meet Mancini on Tuesday and is unlikely to be involved this morning as the first team train ahead of Thursday's Europa League game against Porto in Portugal. The squad are due to fly out this afternoon and Tevez is not registered for the competition.

Tevez, who told Argentinian TV on Monday he could be match-fit in two weeks, met with medical staff on Tuesday and was given a fitness plan, as is standard for any player who has missed training.

City are not in action at the weekend and then face Porto in the return next week, meaning the earliest Tevez could feature would be the leaders' Barclays Premier League game against Blackburn on February 25.

Tevez has decided to resume his City career after failing to secure a move during last month's transfer window.