"Everyone knows Carlos is a top player," the City manager was reported as saying in The Observer. "If he was here and playing it would be better, because Carlos can change games.
"If he were to come back next week maybe he can still help us in the next three months."
He has been fined six weeks' wages for gross misconduct over his disappearance to Argentina without permission in November, a punishment he is appealing to the Premier League, and has also not been paid while he has been absent.
How soon Tevez could feature again for City, who are a point behind local rivals Manchester United with a game in hand ahead of Sunday's visit to Aston Villa, would depend on how quickly he could regain match fitness if he did come back to the club.
"It depends on his condition, and when he returns," added Mancini. "We have already played a lot of games with only one striker. But Carlos knows the situation.
"I talked to him before he left, to try to resolve this situation, and if he comes back we can talk again. I don't have any problem with that. If he wants to play, it could happen."
