Claudio Ranieri is expected to be appointed Manchester
Citeh manager if Thaksin Shinawatra's £92million takeover of the
club proves successful. Fleet Street is unanimous in its belief
that the former Chelski boss is the number one target of Thaksin to
replace Stuart Pearce. The deposed Thailand Prime Minister is
himself believed to be on the verge of taking control at
Eastlands.
'Thaksin and his team of advisers met City's chief executive,
Alistair Mackintosh, in London yesterday for further talks about a
proposed takeover that, if everything goes according to plan, will
be concluded at the end of next week,' reports the Guardian.
Although Ranieri has insisted that he had not yet been formally
approached by Citeh representatives, the 55-year-old reiterated on
Thursday that he wanted to return to the Premiership. "I like
English football. I like English people. I even like English food,"
he also exclaimed in a recent interview.
Ranieri earned the moniker of The Tinkerman during his spell at
Chelski which ended abruptly a year after Roman Abramovich's
arrival. Should the Italian agree to move to Manchester then he is
likely to be armed with a summer transfer kitty worth at least £30m
- but, as The Times warns, 'whether Thaksin's insistence that
Ranieri take charge is a sign that he plans to interfere in team
affairs in the future remains to be seen.' The Italian is out of
contract this summer, so Citeh would not need to pay any
compensation to Parma, his current club.
The Tinkerman could be back... Yay! 
