Eriksson on brink of City takeover

The former England coach will not be formally unveiled until Thaksin Shinawatra has secured the 75 per cent shareholding that gives him control of the club. And Eriksson will not sign a contract until the former Thai prime minister's offer has gone "unconditional".

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But sources close to both City and Eriksson said yesterday that they were confident everything would be in place by the beginning of next week at the latest.

Eriksson has already identified Roland Andersson, currently the Sweden assistant coach, as his deputy at City and, according to sources in Sweden, the 57-year-old former Malmo coach believes he would come as one of the highest-paid assistant managers in the Premiership.

There is talk of his contract being worth in the region of £750,000 a year. Andersson said: "I was contacted by Sven, who said he was considering an offer to become Manchester City manager. Of course I am flattered but, to really consider it, Sven has to have the position of manager first.

"I have a fantastic job as Sweden's assistant coach, and I have informed head coach Lars Lagerback and the people at the FA that I have had this conversation with Sven.

"But, as long as there is no concrete offer to take into consideration, there is nothing to discuss yet."

It is believed Eriksson has already indicated he would be keen to sign Preston's £7million-rated England striker David Nugent.

Derby manager Billy Davies is also on the trail of Nugent, who is considering his future after Sunderland and Portsmouth were also given permission to speak to him. He will delay any decision until returning from holiday next week.

Sunderland, who held talks with Nugent before he went away, have made a firm bid and Portsmouth are still waiting to meet the player.

Though Nugent's priority is choosing a club with the best long-term prospects, it is understood that the chance to stay in the north-west could weigh in City's favour.

City's interest in Nugent depends on Thaksin successfully completing a takeover but his financial advisers now believe he could be in control by as early as this weekend.

Thaksin already has 55.9 per cent of the shares in the club and he is expected to purchase Sky's 9.9 per cent by Friday. Sky have already made it clear they are prepared to sell.

The remaining shares Thaksin needs could then be secured from as few as four more minor shareholders after the offer document went out yesterday to the remaining 5,500 shareholders.

But Thaksin's advisors remained a little cautious yesterday, simply because nothing has yet been signed.

"Until the ink is dry on the contract we won't be getting too carried away," said one member of the Thaksin camp.

Eriksson is renowned for springing surprises, as the Football Association know only too well after discovering he had been talking to Chelsea in 2004.

In the end the Swede signed a new contract but not before giving serious consideration to quitting after that summer's European Championship.

Blackburn Rovers were so convinced they were going to sign him as manager in 1997 that they called a news conference, only to be left embarrassed when Eriksson suddenly decided to remain in Italy, perhaps because he was about to receive an offer to take charge of Lazio.

There has been talk of other offers for Eriksson this time round, with interest apparently coming from Spain.

City stressed again yesterday, however, that any chance of Eriksson forcing them to increase their offer was ruled out as they would simply turn their attention elsewhere.

Agents keen to move their players to City have already been in touch and are being told that Eriksson should be in a position to discuss his transfer plans with his new employers by next week.

Apart from Nugent, a number of other players have already been linked with a move to the club, including Bolton's Nicolas Anelka, Chelsea's Shaun Wright- Phillips, Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg and West Ham's Yossi Benayoun.

SVEN'S CLUB HONOURS

GOTHENBURG (1979-82) UEFA Cup 1982; Swedish League 1981, 1982; Swedish Cup 1979, 1982.

BENFICA (1982-84)

Portuguese League 1983, 1984; Portuguese Cup 1983.

ROMA(1984-87)

Italian Cup 1986.

FIORENTINA (1987-89)

No trophies.

BENFICA (1989-92)

European Cup finalists 1990; Portuguese League 1991.

SAMPDORIA (1992-97)

Italian Cup 1994.

LAZIO (1997-2000)

Cup Winners' Cup 1999; UEFA Super Cup 1999; Italian League 2000; Italian Cup 1998, 2000; Italian Super Cup 1998.