Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak has certain that the stance adopted by the club in their war with striker Carlos Tevez is a landmark because it has shown the world that the club still have a lot of power.

It has been widely argued that player power is much bigger nowadays, but the Manchester city chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak has said that the stance adopted by the club in the war with Carlos Tevez proves that clubs still have a lot of bargaining power. Carlos Tevez refused to play for the club in the September of last season, and went AWOL for most of the season.

However, he was accepted back into the side by manager Roberto Mancini after he issued an apology for his actions. He came extremely close to leaving the club last January transfer window, but the club refused to give up on the fight to retain the player who still had three years left on his original contract. Due to his excessive wages, the interested clubs were not willing to pay more than £ 25 million for his services, while Manchester City demanded £ 40 million. Carlos Tevez ended up staying at the club after he was left with no other options.

"It was a landmark. We cannot allow ourselves, as a club, to be mucked around. It was a hell of a gamble for me, not to let him leave for AC Milan in January, because he could have sat out all year, but not played for us and lost his value. But I was firm that we are not rich people to be taken advantage of, to give him what he wants and let the market screw us," he said. The 28-year-old is still expected to be sold in the summer as part of a major revamp at Manchester city.