Manchester United and Chelsea target Carlos Tevez is refusing to play for his club Corinthians as he continues to be linked with a move to Europe.
The Argentine international featured at the weekend against Botafogo, but he then told the Brazilian media that he had played his last game for the club.
He is now back in Buenos Aires and does not look as if he is in a hurry to return to Brazil as he was pictured at a rock festival and a move to Europe seems to be the prime motivation behind his actions.
Tevez's unofficial departure has not gone down well with the club, but coach Emerson Leao is not overly concerned about the player's absence.
"Our relationship has never got started," said Leao.
"But it is still too early to say anything. I don't want this getting in the way of my job, I am here to coach the team.
"I need to improve Corinthians and the more good players I have, the better.
"I'm not going to make allowances for those that don't deserve it. I arrived only a short time ago and have a two-year contract.
"Tevez has missed other training sessions so this is nothing new. From what I have seen, the team played 45 games last year and he played only 24.
"Does anyone understand what Tevez says when he speaks, because I don't.
"He is a citizen who has to answer for his own actions and he has no reason for his absence.
"Corinthians received no official notice and we need to work with concrete, reliable facts."
Corinthians confirmed that Tevez was AWOL.
"Tevez has not appeared," said Corinthians spokesperson Luciano Signorini:
"He has not called to give any reason why he has missed training. We don't know what is going on with him."
New of Tevez's unrest is sure to alert Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho - both of whom have shown an interest.