LONDON - Transfer talks between Manchester City and AC Milan over Carlos Tevez appear to be heading for a stalemate after coach Roberto Mancini on Tuesday again ruled out loaning the Argentine striker to the Serie A side.

Manchester City is expected to meet AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani on Thursday, a source close to the club said, but neither team appears to be willing to change its stance over a permanent deal.

"We're not going to take him outright, we're offering a free loan with the right to buy in June," Galliani told Italian press on Monday.

But Mancini on Tuesday said this was unacceptable and indicated the Premier League leader would take a tough stance on the issue.

"We want Carlos to come back and play football and the best solution for us is to sell him. We can't let him leave on loan," he said.

The former Inter Milan manager also said it set a bad precedent for City to allow key players to go out on loan deals.

"But when we want to sell them, they have to go on loan. This is not good. It is not correct for the other players.

"Manchester City paid Carlos a lot of money for three years. It is correct that if one club, it could be Milan, Juventus, PSG, Inter, want him, they pay Carlos for his value. This is correct."

The meeting between the clubs was expected to take place in Manchester after Galliani told Italian media on Monday that he will be traveling there to discuss the move after fighting off competition from French side Paris St Germain.

"On Thursday we have an appointment with Manchester City for Tevez but it will probably not be the decisive one to conclude negotiations," Galliani said.

"The player wants to come to us and not PSG (Paris St Germain) and we hope City accept the offer."

Speculation about the future of the former Boca Juniors, West Ham United and Manchester United player has been rife since his public fall out with Mancini.

City fined Tevez four weeks wages, which was later reduced to two, for refusing to come off the bench to play in a Champions League match against Bayern Munich on Sept 27.

Mancini subsequently offered Tevez an olive branch if he apologized but then shut the door on a possible return after the player missed training and returned to his homeland without the club's permission.

AC Milan has been vocal in its pursuit of Tevez but appears unable to match the valua put on the striker signed by City from Manchester United for 25 million pounds ($38.83 million) in July 2009.

Tevez has not played a match for City since a League Cup win over Birmingham City on Sept 21.

Reuters

(China Daily 12/22/2011 page24)