Manuel Pellegrini opens door for Man City move

MANCHESTER City’s hopes of landing Manuel Pellegrini as their next manager look to have increased after the Chilean announced he was definitely leaving Malaga.

City have been heavily linked with Pellegrini in recent weeks and speculation has intensified since last year’s Premier League-winning boss Roberto Mancini was sacked last week.

Pellegrini has indicated a desire to leave at the end of the Spanish season and has now claimed he will definitely go.

This has not been confirmed by Malaga, who have enjoyed relative success under the 59-year-old, including reaching the Champions League 
quarter-finals this year.

Pellegrini, quoted by Spanish newspaper website Marca.com, said: “My coaching staff and I are separating from Malaga but our union with this city will be eternal. I’m going for sporting reasons.”

He added: “Sunday will be my last match at La Rosaleda and will be very exciting for me.

“I’m not leaving due to the matter of money but looking for a project that allows me to develop my profession conveniently.”

Mancini paid the price for failing to meet Manchester City’s high expectations after his side lost their title and slumped out of the Champions League prematurely. The Italian remained a firm favourite with fans, having also ended a 35-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup in 2011, but the club feel it is time to move on.

Chief executive Ferran Soriano spoke about the matter to a US television reporter as the club announced the launch of their Major League Soccer team.

When asked what Mancini did wrong, Soriano told CNN: “He did very good things for the club. He stayed there for three years, which is a lot of time. He brought the club to a winning club. Now we are just looking for the next step, the next cycle.

“We have a fantastic squad. We want to play better football and we want to continue winning. It is not that Mancini did anything wrong. We are just in another cycle, in another era.”