Manchester C 1 Stoke City 0:CARLOS TEVEZ has rejected suggestions he is holding Manchester City to ransom over his future but has refused to give any assurances that he will remain at the club next season. Tevez lifted the FA Cup on Saturday as City ended their 35-year wait for a trophy by beating Stoke City 1-0 courtesy of Yaya Toure's second-half goal.

The club’s leading scorer described winning silverware and qualifying for the Champions League in the same season as a “great achievement” but did nothing to dampen speculation that he will leave City in the summer.

Tevez claimed he had no problems with Roberto Mancini, the City manager, or anyone else at the club, but talked at length about his desire to live closer to his children, who are in Buenos Aires, and said that personal issues would impact heavily on the decision he reaches at the end of the season.

Tevez submitted a transfer request in December but was dissuaded from leaving when Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the City chairman, intervened. The 27-year-old’s contract, thought to be worth in excess of €230,000 per week, runs until June 2014. Asked whether his situation was related to money and his desire for a new deal, Tevez replied: “No, no, not at all.”

Tevez instead suggested that “family matters” were at the heart of the issue. “I don’t have problems with anyone at the club, things are fine with Mancini and everyone, but it’s a decision I need to discuss with my family whether I stay or not.

“My family, my kids are a long distance away from Manchester and if there is an option to go then it will be something to do with my family and children. It would be a personal decision rather than a professional one.”

When it was pointed out to Tevez that moving to a club in Spain or Italy – his most likely destinations –- would make little difference compared with living in England, in terms of being nearer his children, he replied: “You are already talking as if I have left the club. I don’t know if I am going to leave or not, if I’m going to Spain or Italy or somewhere else. Yes, in terms of distance it is the same, but it’s not only distance that matters.”

Tevez did offer one crumb of comfort to City supporters when he said that he was attracted to the prospect of trying to overhaul United, his former club, in the Premier League. “That is a great motivation to stay. It would make me very happy to win the title here, it is that we all want and need. But now it’s time to celebrate winning the Cup.”

City have decided against parading the FA Cup before their Premier League match against Stoke at Eastlands tomorrow night out of respect to the losing finalists.

The trophy will be particularly cherished by a club without a notable prize since that League Cup 35 years ago.

The exclusion of James Milner from the action on Saturday was a side effect of Mancini’s determination to implant more expressiveness. That policy worked to the advantage of the 20-year-old Mario Balotelli, a sometimes turbulent figure.

The Italian applied his skill well in the final. There was a randomness to the goal, but the insistence of the attack also damaged Stoke.

David Silva twice linked with Balotelli in the 74th minute and when the latter’s shot ricocheted into the path of Yaya Toure, the Ivorian crashed home the winner.

The score does not convey the lopsidedness of the final. Stoke arrived in poor shape, with Matthew Etherington fielded despite his hamstring injury because of the dearth of alternatives.

Etherington could not make an impact on the left flank in his 63 minutes on the field and while Jermaine Pennant, the right-winger, did make an impression, Wembley was denied the much-anticipated sight of City being terrorised by a storm of high crosses.

As it was, there was even a dearth of long throw-ins to cause mayhem.

City commanded the field. While the relative budgets point to an absurd mismatch, the Premier League table does not put quite such a distance between them, with Stoke eighth and their opponents fourth.

There were understandable reasons for the victors’ air of authority, but the loss will be particularly bitter for Tony Pulis since his side dropped below their usual level when the club had come to Wembley with the hope that they could surpass themselves.