Tottenham legend Ossie Ardiles feels Carlos Tevez will live to regret going AWOL from Manchester City.

Ardiles says he is saddened by his compatriot's situation because he remembers how homesick his "other half", Ricky Villa, felt when the pair of them joined Spurs in 1978, having just won the World Cup with Argentina.

"Ricky wanted to go home from the moment he got here," Ardiles told the Mail on Sunday.

"The irony is that he loves England now, but back then he just wanted to get away. He wouldn't even buy a mirror for his house. He didn't see the point in buying anything that was going to be too big and awkward to take back to Argentina when his contract ended.

"It was in this house that he told me he was going to leave Spurs and play in Florida. It was only two years after his famous winning goal in the 1981 FA Cup final but he said he wasn't enjoying his football, he was sick of the weather and wanted some sun. But I know later on he regretted it.

"Tevez will regret it, too, if it ends like this at Manchester City. I'd tell him to come back to England immediately. Just say 'for whatever I did, I apologise'.

"It might be a bit difficult for a couple of games but score two or three goals and it will change. Last season Wayne Rooney came out at Manchester United and basically said 'All my team-mates are crap. I am brilliant, but they are crap'. But he scores a few goals and everything is forgiven.

"Carlos lives for football and as a footballer, Manchester City is the place to be. They will win all kinds of trophies and they still need him as well. It will be a mistake for everybody for him to go.

"He was adored at City but things started to change when he wasn't No 1. Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko were picked for the easy games and Carlos would have been thinking 'I bet to my last dollar when Manchester City need something, I will be asked to rescue them'. It is exactly what happened against Bayern Munich."