Carlos Tevez is ready to end his self-imposed exile and return to Manchester City in the hope of reviving his career.
Tevez, who has not played since his refusal to warm-up in the Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich, has been in Argentina since flying home without permission in November.
He had hoped to secure a move away from the Etihad Stadium in the January transfer window but interest from Paris St Germain, Inter Milan and AC Milan came to nothing, leaving the striker in limbo.
City manager Roberto Mancini has hinted he would be willing to welcome the striker back to the Etihad if he apologises for his actions and the 27-year-old appears ready to put the issue behind him with Paul McCarthy, who is an advisor to Tevez's representative Kia Joorabchian, revealing he will return to Manchester this week.
"There's been a lot of negotiation behind the scenes and there have been some very sensible discussions which have taken place in the last 10 days, and there has been a thawing on both sides," McCarthy told Sky Sports News.
"Carlos wants to be back and he wants to be playing football again. Roberto Mancini has more than opened the door for him and now it's a case of him getting his fitness back.
"He wants to be back playing football, that's what he's best at doing. He needs to be back and he needs to be pulling on the Manchester City shirt again and doing what he does best, which is scoring goals and helping the team."