Manchester City will demand compensation totalling Carlos Tevez's full transfer value from his representatives should their bitter fall-out result in the club captain walking away from Eastlands.
City officials have rejected a transfer request from the disgruntled Argentina international and their desire to retain the striker has not altered despite the acrimonious statement yesterday in which he claimed his relationship "with certain executives and individuals at the club has broken down and is now beyond repair".
Tevez is expected to report back for training tomorrow morning, having been granted a leave of absence by the City manager, Roberto Mancini, on the assumption he would be visiting his family. It is understood he travelled to Tenerife.
City are under no pressure to sell the 26-year-old in January, although that resolve has not been tested by any offers from, say, Real Madrid or Chelsea, who are among the few clubs in the world who could afford a striker whose current form has raised his valuation above the £25.5m Sheikh Mansour paid for his services in 2009.
However, should he acerbate the situation by refusing to train or, as has been suggested, quitting the game in order to be closer to his two daughters in Buenos Aires, then City would be entitled to sue for breach of contract. In that extreme case they would attempt to recoup their losses by suing the investors represented by Kia Joorabchian, the group who owned the former West Ham United and Manchester United player's "economic rights" and who sold him across the Manchester divide 17 months ago.
City made clear where their irritation lay in their statement yesterday. "The club remains disappointed by this situation and particularly with the actions of Carlos's representative," it read.
There remains bewilderment at Eastlands over the various reasons presented for Tevez's disillusionment. Homesickness, a problem he dismissed in an interview with the club's own media last week, his handling by Mancini and his relationship with Garry Cook, the chief executive, plus the football administrator, Brian Marwood, have all been cited as factors in Tevez's wish to leave. Yet he has played in Manchester for more than three years and, as with all players, has only a business relationship with Cook.
While Tevez claims to have told City that he wanted out in August, a revelation that City deny, it is understood the club held talks with his representatives over improving his commercial rights recently. City had refused to renegotiate a contract with their highest paid player mid-season, as Tevez, who can earn around £230,000 a week with bonuses, still has three and a half years remaining on his existing deal and it is against club policy. They were prepared, however, to reflect his outstanding form and contribution to an emerging title challenge by revising the terms of his image rights during this campaign.
City deny that Tevez has played his last game for the club but it remains to be seen whether the Argentinian will turn up at Carrington and what Mancini's stance will be. The City manager, who is in Italy for an eye operation, has indulged his leading goalscorer, one who has scored 39 goals in 60 games for the club since his defection from Old Trafford, with time off this season.
Mancini is due to give a press conference before Thursday's Europa League tie against Juventus and it will be his decision whether Tevez is in the right frame of mind to feature in Turin and whether he should retain the captain's armband.
One club who have ruled themselves out of a move for Tevez is Milan, who cannot afford the striker's transfer fee or wages, according to their chief executive, Adriano Galliani. The Serie A leaders are in the market for a new striker having lost the veteran Filippo Inzaghi for the rest of the season to injury.
However, Galliani, who also confirmed the City forward and Milan supporter Mario Balotelli is not available, said: "Tevez is great but Milan can't make an investment like that. If we find a forward who looks like a Milan player we will take him; otherwise we'll stay like this."