MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Carlos Tevez’s adviser claimed he spent weeks trying to persuade Manchester City to sell the Argentina striker before this season, and that he can prove the player does not want to leave because of money.

Kia Joorabchian said he is prepared to make public an email exchange with City to show Tevez turned down the offer of a lucrative contract at the English club, which released a statement last week in which it said it already pays him more than any other player.

Joorabchian said in a newspaper interview published yesterday that Tevez wants to quit because the club has not addressed “certain issues that he wanted dealt with”.

Joorabchian did not detail those issues, but said the team had performed below Tevez’s expectations when they finished fifth in last season’s Premier League despite 23 goals from their main striker.

“He decided he would sign for the club, play one year outside of the Champions League and hopefully take this club into the next phase,” Joorabchian told Britain’s Daily Telegraph. “When he joined City, he made a commitment that this was what he wanted to do.

“At the end of last season, after all the turmoil that went on, Carlos was bitterly disappointed because they didn’t qualify for the Champions League. And he felt the situation at the club was not going in the same direction as he imagined it would be going. He played out of his skin, did everything he possibly could.”

City said last week that they had refused several requests from Joorabchian for negotiations over a new contract, blaming a written transfer request from Tevez on other people’s influence over the player.

Tevez denied this and Joorabchian said an e-mail exchange shows that City offered Tevez a new deal in an attempt to persuade him to stay.

“Carlos wanted to leave, I went to speak to them and they said there would be a new contract, new clauses in the contract, et cetera,” Joorabchian said.

“They sent the proposal, we countered one time and then we said, ‘you know what, Carlos doesn’t want it, thank you very much, no’.”

British newspapers have reported for months that Tevez is unhappy because he is so far from his two children in Argentina.

Tevez’s arrival in July 2009 after two years with Manchester United was heralded as a significant step in owner Sheikh Mansour’s attempt to build a side capable of overhauling the likes of United, Chelsea and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

Tevez has three-and-a-half years remaining on the fiveyear contract. He has scored 39 goals in 17 months with City.