Manchester City have reiterated to both Milan clubs they must pay a transfer fee of €30 million (Dh140.25m) for Carlos Tevez if they are to reach a deal to sign the unsettled Argentina striker in the January window.
Inter Milan are closest to meeting the valuation City would consider acceptable for an individual who has effectively been on strike for much of this season.
The Tevez tale
Tevez will not be sold at a cut-price rate
The Argentine striker is fined four weeks' wages, but any deal to take him away from the Etihad Stadium will have to be at market rate.
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[ Carlos Tevez ]
Marco Branca, the Inter sporting director, flew out to meet City officials on Thursday, proposing that the Serie A club take Tevez on loan now with a guaranteed full transfer in the summer. Massimi Moratti, the owner of the Italian giants, has sanctioned Branca to offer €25m for the 27 year old.
Inter's approach for Tevez is partly motivated by a desire to keep the player out of the grasp of AC Milan, who took the Italian title off their city rivals last season and lead Serie A this term.
Milan, meanwhile, have concentrated their efforts on Tevez and his representative, Kia Joorabchian, agreeing personal terms with them before lodging a viable offer with City.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed's club have not been impressed by the actions of Adriano Galliani, the Milan chief executive, who was pictured dining with Tevez and Joorabchian in a Rio de Janeiro restaurant on the front page of an Italian sports daily last week.
Milan's suggestion that they take Tevez for the remainder of the season with a €20m transfer conditional on the forward meeting pre-determined performance targets is unacceptable to City.
In response, Massimiliano Allegri, the AC Milan manager, said this week that Tevez is not destined for a move to the San Siro.
"We have other, stronger strikers, so we are not looking at Tevez just now," Allegri told reporters in Dubai before their exhibition match with Paris Saint-Germain.
Milan's issue is not a shortage of funds. Carlo Ancelotti, the new PSG coach, has prioritised the recruitment of Alexandre Pato, the Milan forward, and had been promised a budget of up to €50m to secure the Brazil international.
Pato is keen on the switch to Paris and his girlfriend, Barbara Berlusconi, the daughter of Silvio Berlusconi, the Milan owner, and a club executive herself, is supportive. A deal for Pato would generate the funds for a move for Tevez.
Mindful of the manner in which Galliani treated club executives attempting to negotiate the transfer of Kaka three winters ago, City's preference is to sell Tevez to Inter rather than Milan.
With PSG's Qatari owners indicating that they are not interested in signing the Argentine, no other club is expected to bid.
City went into the summer transfer window insisting they would not allow the forward to leave Manchester for less than €50m.
Eventually, they agreed to sell Tevez to Corinthians for €40m plus €4m in add ons only for the Brazilian club to fail to deliver bank guarantees.
While the new valuation reflects how Tevez's value and stock has fallen following his refusal to warm up for a Champions League group game at Bayern Munich and subsequent absences from training, City have recouped over £6m (Dh34m) in loyalty bonuses the club declared forfeited by the player's pursuit of a transfer.
Tevez was fined two weeks of his £160,000 basic wage for his actions in Munich, and can expect additional punishment for avoiding training without permission.
