Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has played down fears that star striker Carlos Tevez is contemplating retirement.
The 25-year-old is just four months into a five-year contract with the big-spending Blues.
Yet last week he was quoted as saying he was "tired of so much football" and that it "crosses my mind to hang up my boots" if Argentina win next year's World Cup.
And the belief that Tevez was referring to retiring only from international football was counteracted by the former Manchester United forward expressing a desire to return to his homeland.
Tevez has struggled to justify his £25 million price tag, scoring just two league goals since signing for City in the summer, but Hughes is confident he is not considering a premature exit.
"On occasions, players will say things probably from an emotional perspective rather than a clear-minded perspective and maybe that's the situation in which Carlos has been caught," Hughes told the Daily Telegraph.
"We lose things in translation when they come across the water, so I'm always wary of those things and it's not a concern for me.
"It's not something that I have seen in his play or general demeanour. I'm looking at him as an individual and it doesn't look like there is something weighing heavily on his mind."
Tevez's start at City has been hindered by a knee injury but Hughes believes a turbulent World Cup qualifying campaign with Argentina has been a bigger cause of frustration for Tevez.
"He has had a little bit of a problem with his knee," added the City boss. "He can train and play, but it's a bit of a niggle that, ideally at some point, we'll be able to calm down. But he's fine.
"Maybe the international scene hasn't gone as well as he would have liked, so perhaps that's the thinking behind it."
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