MANCHESTER CITY SET TO UNVEIL ERIKSSON SWEDE BIDS TO
REBUILD REPUTATION
SVEN Goran Eriksson will fly into London today to finalise his move
to become Manchester City's new manager.
A year after he quit as England boss, Eriksson is expected to
inform new City owner Thaksin Shinawatra of his decision to accept
a three-year deal worth £7.5million.
Eriksson, 59, who has not worked since leaving the England post in
the wake of last summer's failed World Cup campaign, spent the
weekend mulling over the offer and has decided the time is right
for him to return to football.
After a week of negotiation with representatives of Shinawatra and
City, Eriksson is ready to accept a £2.5m-ayear contract, which
could rise to £3m a year with bonus payments.
Sources close to Eriksson claim the Swede is determined to restore
his reputation, which was damaged in the wake of his unsuccessful
five-and-a-half year spell with England, and prove his critics
wrong by leading City out of the doldrums.
Eriksson, whose last club job was with Lazio six and a half years
ago, will be handed a transfer budget of around £50m to rebuild
City's threadbare squad and will immediately begin the task of
recruiting at least six new players.
Among his targets are West Ham striker Marlon Harewood and his
skipper Nigel Reo-Coker, Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg, Liverpool's
Craig Bellamy and Newcastle's Michael Owen, although the England
star is understood to want to move to a club offering Champions
League football. Keith Harris, the football finance expert who
approached Eriksson about the City job on behalf of Shinawatra,
claimed the Swede's appointment was imminent.
Harris told Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek: "The important thing is
Eriksson is highly respected by England's players.
"They all hold him in high regard. Manchester City's academy has
been successful in bringing through young England players, so it
would knit well in that respect.
"City want to attract a high-quality manager who can in turn
attract high-quality players."
Despite Eriksson's expected unveiling today, City have kept open
talks with Sevilla boss Juande Ramos and Blackburn's Mark Hughes in
case the Swede has a late change of heart.
Harris added: "The good news is the alternatives have not been in
the gush of publicity and there are talks going on with those
others as well.
"But the important thing is a good-quality manager is chosen and
that a manager who wants the job takes it in the next couple of
days."
Although Shinawatra has had more than £1billion of his assets
frozen by the Thai government through an investigation into his
alleged corruption, Harris insisted the move posed no threat to his
takeover of City.
"A number of his bank accounts have been frozen," said Harris. "But
the money to buy City is clean. It has been legitimately
transferred to the UK."
But Thai finance minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn said: "The money
used for Manchester City is still a mystery to Thailand.
"When he was prime minister he was required to declare all his
assets and he did not declare any foreign assets."
