Corinthians have confirmed they have engaged in early talks with Carlos Tevez's agent with a view to bringing the Manchester City striker back to Brazil

Corinthians have confirmed they have engaged in early talks with Carlos Tevez's agent with a view to bringing the Manchester City striker back to Brazil in a sensational loan deal.

The Argentina international has publicly voiced his will to quit City after spending the last five years of his career in England.

Tevez has declared he wishes to be closer to his family in Buenos Aires and Corinthians - where the striker played from 2004 to 2006 - are prepared to offer him a way back to South America.

Given the player's €56 million [£49.5m] valuation, Corinthians know they will not be able to land him on a permanent basis, and are looking to sign him on a one-year temporary contract.

"It would have to be a loan. We cannot buy him, that is an absurd figure, unviable for the Brazilian football market," said Corinthians' vice-director of football Duilio Alves to Lancenet.

Furthermore, the director has stated that Tevez, having previously spoken of his desire to play for Corinthians once more, could potentially be tempted by such a move.

"His intention exists. If one day it is possible, Corinthians are interested," Alves continued.

"It is not impossible. We are going to try to discover all the details. It is a dream we are trying to make true. I do not want to give false hope to the fans. We will try. That is what all can say.

"He is interested in returning, everybody knows that. He has said several times he would play for Corinthians or Boca Juniors again.

"With that interest on his part, we are interested in his coming. For that to come true, it is distant. But we are going after him and we have initiated talks."

Media Sports Investment, a company in which Tevez's agent plays an important role, controlled Corinthians from 2004 to 2006, and it is believed the representative's good relationship with the Brazilian club could help to facilitate the deal.

However, time is not on Corinthians' side: the club know they have until 20 July to wrap up a deal for the player, as the Brazilian transfer window closes on that day.

Tevez, who netted 46 times in his 76 appearances for Corinthians, has also been linked with a move to Real Madrid, who have offered Gonzalo Higuain or Karim Benzema to Manchester City in a player-plus cash bid for the Argentine.

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Harry Redknapp yesterday reiterated his desire to keep Luka Modric at Tottenham Hotspur despite the midfielder's outspoken

Harry Redknapp yesterday reiterated his desire to keep Luka Modric at Tottenham Hotspur despite the midfielder's outspoken attack on chairman Daniel Levy this week.

Redknapp said that Modric trained as usual with the rest of the Spurs squad yesterday and has not raised the issue of his desire to join Chelsea with his manager. Redknapp also said that he expected Modric, 25, to be on the flight to South Africa tomorrow when the team go on their pre-season tour.Redknapp yesterday reiterated his desire to keep Luka Modric at Tottenham Hotspur despite the midfielder's outspoken Modric has turned up the heat dramatically in his battle to leave Spurs, describing Levy as "cold" and "arrogant" in an interview with a Croatian newspaper and claiming that Levy had reneged on a gentleman's agreement made last summer to sell him if a bigger club made an offer. Spurs deny any such agreement existed.

On the player's relationship with Levy, who has been surprised at the ferocity of the attack, Redknapp admitted that there were bridges to build. "That's for him [Modric] to sort out, it's a difficult one," he said but added that he had no personal problems with the player.

Redknapp told The Independent: "To start with, the Chelsea offer at the moment is a ridiculous offer – and we don't want to sell him. But if you are going to make an offer, make an offer. Don't offer £22m for a player that is worth nearer to £50m. I don't want to sell him. He has been training as normal. He is not a boy who would cause problems, I have never had a minute's problem with him. He's trained hard today. He has got on with it. You wouldn't meet a nicer boy. The problem is that someone has come in and offered to double his wages."

Modric is earning £45,000-a-week with the implicit offer from Chelsea, who had a bid of £22m for him turned down last month, understood to be around £120,000-a-week. Spurs had planned to give him an improved deal later in the season but are now fearful just how far he could go in forcing a move. Having announced yesterday that midfielder Michael Essien will miss six months of action having undergone surgery to repair a cruciate knee ligament, Chelsea are preparing a second offer of £27m for Modric.

Redknapp said: "We want to keep him, I need to keep him. He is ambitious and he wants to play in a team and win something and he's been offered fantastic wages. But at the end of the day we want to keep him. If we sell him and sign no-one where are we going? Mid-table again.

"We have to show some ambition and keep hold of them as well as signing players. Liverpool are looking to sign Stewart Downing. They are getting in players to go above us so even hanging on to sixth place will be difficult. He [Levy] will make the decision. We obviously want to keep him and that will be up to the chairman."

Essien broke down in training on Thursday when he twisted his right knee. The joint was so swollen that doctors were unable to fully judge the extent of the injury for a couple of days. Essien, who has already suffered torn ligaments to both his knees in the past three years, faces another long fight to regain fitness again.

The injury also raises doubts about whether he will ever recover the power and drive that typified his performances for Chelsea before he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in 2008.

Chelsea are also considering buying another midfielder. Joao Moutinho at Porto is a candidate, but Porto are insisting on the full £35m buy-out clause in his contract. There were reports last night they were considering making a £6m bid for former player Scott Parker.

Chelsea defender Alex da Costa is one player who could be leaving the club before the start of the season, with Bayern Munich keen to tie up a deal worth £12m for the 29-year-old Brazilian who has two years left on his contract. Chelsea are also happy to listen to offers for Nicolas Anelka, whose form fell apart at the end of last season following the £50m arrival of Fernando Torres. Anelka, 32, has one year left on his contract and Paris St Germain are reported to be interested.

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Sir Alex Ferguson exerted subtle pressure on Arsène Wenger over the attempted purchase of Samir Nasri late last nigh

Sir Alex Ferguson exerted subtle pressure on Arsène Wenger over the attempted purchase of Samir Nasri late last night in what appeared to be one last attempt to revive his fading hopes of signing the player.

When it was put to Ferguson at a brief press conference in Boston that Wenger had declared he could convince Nasri to stay, spurning a £20m United bid, the United manager said: "That's a decision [Wenger] has made. He is the manager. If he stands by that decision it's a brave one. I'm not sure the [Arsenal] directors will enjoy that one, but it's possible. Maybe he will have to stay."

Privately, there has been a feeling at United that the narrow ownership structure at Arsenal could actually be an impediment to United's attempts to buy Nasri, with Alisher Usmanov and Stan Kroenke both unlikely to stand in Wenger's way if he wanted to keep the player. But in a classic piece of reverse Ferguson psychology, the manager applied pressure on both the player and his club, while seemingly ruling out buying a player he badly wants. "I don't think he's coming to United. That's all I can tell you," Ferguson added. "I think he's agreed to go somewhere else. Maybe he has to stay at Arsenal, also. That's a possibility." Nasri does not appear to have agreed to sign for Manchester City, despite Ferguson's inference.
Nasri, 24, has one year left on his contract and has refused to sign a new five-year extension that Arsenal are offering. Arsenal, who would only consider letting Nasri leave to a direct Premier League rival for £25m, are content to risk losing Nasri for nothing in 12 months as it is understood the player is leaning towards playing out the final year of his contract. Wenger, speaking in Kuala Lumpur on the first day of Arsenal's pre-season trip to Malaysia, said: "Will he [Nasri] be at the club next season? I say yes. The second part [of the question] – will he sign a new contract? I hope yes, but I am not the only one to decide. Samir Nasri is very happy at the club and is committed to staying at the club."

Wenger expressed optimism about retaining his captain Cesc Fabregas.

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the devastating size of the death toll from Sunday's cruise boat sinking gradually became apparent

Rescue divers spent yesterday pulling corpses out of Russia's Volga river, as the devastating size of the death toll from Sunday's cruise boat sinking gradually became apparent.

More than 100 people, many of them children, are feared dead after the Bulgaria sank in stormy weather while on a two-day cruise from the city of Kazan. Around 80 people were rescued by a passing boat in the immediate aftermath, but hopes have faded for the remaining missing.

The number of confirmed dead rose throughout the day, as divers undertook the grim task of searching for bodies inside the sunken ship itself, lodged on the riverbed. By the afternoon, the confirmed death toll was at 53, but rescuers admitted they had little hope of finding anyone still missing alive and that the final toll was likely to top 100.

There were reports that shortly before disaster struck, dozens of children gathered in a playroom with an onboard entertainer, to give their parents some quiet time. It is not known how many of the children, if any, survived.

Evidence suggested that a number of safety violations could have caused or compounded the disaster. One survivor told the website LifeNews that emergency exit doors on the boat had been sealed or locked shut. Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said yesterday that 208 people were believed to be aboard the Bulgaria at the time it sank, while the boat was intended to hold only 120. Investigators also suggested that the boat set sail with a palpable right-hand tilt, and with one of its engines not properly functioning.

Some survivors told Russian news agencies that they begged the captain to turn round because of the tilt, but were ignored. The boat was made in 1955 and had not undergone any serious modernisation work. There were conflicting reports about whether it was properly licensed for passenger cruises.

Cruises on Russia's rivers are a popular summer holiday option for Russians who are not able to afford international travel, and every summer hundreds of boats ply the Volga, Europe's longest river. Survivors say that during the cruise, the Bulgaria got caught up in stormy weather, and tilted sharply to the right. This was apparently compounded by the captain trying to turn the boat round, and soon water was rushing into the vessel through portholes that had been opened because the ship had no air conditioning. The boat sank within a matter of minutes, plunging down nearly 20 metres to the river bed, in a spot around two miles from the nearest bank.

Gruesome video footage showed that some of the bodies dragged to the surface were wearing life jackets, but even this failed to save them. Some witnesses suggested that two other boats in the vicinity at the time of the tragedy simply sailed past without stopping to offer help.

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