Manchester City have rejected a £35m bid from Brazilian side Corinthians for Carlos Tevez.

Corinthians hope to bring the 27-year-old back to the club where he enjoyed success from 2004-2006 and made their move after Tevez revealed he wanted to leave City for family reasons.

But City turned down the 40m Euro offer on Tuesday.

Corinthians will now need to increase their bid if they are to persuade the Eastlands outfit to sell the striker.

BBC Sport understands that City will step up their pursuit of Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero once Tevez's future has been settled after opening dialogue with the La Liga side about the Argentina striker.

City boss Roberto Mancini is an admirer of the 23-year-old but City will not move to progress any deal until Tevez's next move has been decided to avoid a stockpile of strikers at Eastlands.

Atletico are expected to demand £45m for Aguero, leaving City with the option of funding a transfer with the money brought in from the potential sale of Tevez.

City also retain a strong interest in Samir Nasri and are ready to head the list of suitors should they be given any encouragement by Arsenal that a deal can be done.

TEVEZ SAGA TIMELINE 12 December 2010 - Tevez says he is going to leave Man City

20 December 2010 - Withdraws transfer request and commits future to club

16 May 2011 - Says he will only stay at club if solution found to "family issues"

8 June 2011 - Tevez says he will never return to "small and wet" Manchester

4 July - Confirms he intends to leave Manchester City

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who is also keen to sign Nasri, said in a press conference in Boston that the the French midfield man had "agreed to go somewhere else" - with City suggested as his likely destination - but BBC Sport understands no deal has been agreed or is close at this stage.

City are in no mood to rush into any decision on Tevez until their asking price is met, believing they are in a powerful position to decide when any deal is done as he remains on a highly-lucrative, long-term deal.

However, the transfer window shuts in Brazil on 20 July, so there is limited time to negotiate with Corinthians.

"It is a big deal and a tough deal, because it is one of a very big nature and it might not be simple," Tevez's agent Kia Joorabchian told Sky Sports News.

Tevez 's contract is understood to be worth in excess of £200,000-a-week and it remains to be seen if the Brazilian club will match those lucrative terms.

Tevez has been linked with a transfer to several of Europe's top clubs since announcing his desire to leave, including Italian side Inter Milan, who subsequently ruled out a move for the forward.

It initially seemed a fanciful prospect that Tevez would be able to move to South America, as no club was believed to have the financial clout to sign him from City.

However, it is thought the massive transfer fee, almost treble the club record of £13.7m that Corinthians paid to bring him to the Brazilian club in 2004, would be funded through sponsorship and money from TV rights.

"Brazil's economy is booming and there is a new TV deal which is going to get the Brazilian clubs a lot more money on the table for them," said BBC South America football correspondent Tim Vickery.

"Tevez did very well for Corinthians in 2005 - he helped the club to the Brazilian championship - before he moved to England the following year. It would be closer to his daughters in Buenos Aires and so I think we have to say that this is a possibility."

Tevez handed in a transfer request at Eastlands in December 2010 but later withdrew it.

He struggled for form towards the end of last season but still finished level with Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov as leading scorer in the Premier League as City finished third.