Roberto Mancini has admitted he doesn't know whether Carlos Tevez will still be a Manchester City player on Tuesday night.
As the transfer window heads into its frenetic final stages, Tevez remains in Argentina, but it looks increasingly likely that he will be staying at City.
Yet, as Mancini knows only too well, the last hours before deadlines can trigger amazing deals, and with AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani not completely ruling out a further bid, the City manager admitted: "I don't know if he will be a City player after tomorrow."
The chances of Tevez not being around appear to hinge on the unlikely instance of City contacting Milan to try and resurrect a deal for a player who was mentioned in a potential swap deal with Liverpool's Andy Carroll last week.
As that tentative inquiry was snubbed, it is hard to see why the Blues would be willing to enter further negotiations with a club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak accused of trying to sign Tevez on the cheap less than a week ago.
"I will be in the office from 0900 to 1900 hours for the last two days of the transfer window," Galliani said to Milan Channel. "I truly believe there will be no surprises. But who knows? In football, anything can happen."
If Tevez remains a City player, it would pitch the 27-year-old back into a relationship with his manager that has never been good according to advisor Kia Joorabchian.
Yet those words, delivered on Friday, are at odds with the history of Tevez's relationship with Mancini, who continues to insist there are no issues.
"Everyone should answer for his behaviour, always," said the City manager. "These are the rules.
"If a player wants to join another club, it is an option for him. Maybe for the club it is a big problem. But Carlos doesn't have any problem with me."
Source: PA
