Eriksson in U-turn on City job

Eriksson is on the lookout for a new challenge after taking a year out following his departure from the England hotseat last summer.

"Manchester City is an established Premiership club with great potential," he told the Manchester Evening News. "I know they have ambitions to be challenging higher up the table and, if they indicated they are interested in me becoming coach, of course I would talk to them."

The Swede has been linked with a number of high-profile jobs but indicated earlier this week that a job at City was not very high on his list of preferred options.

However, the 59-year-old now claims that is not the case and actually feels it would be an honour to coach the Blues, who sacked Stuart Pearce the day after a disappointing campaign ended with defeat at Tottenham.

"It would be an honour for me to be manager, like it would for all other managers," added Eriksson.

"Every time I visited the club, I was struck by the passion of the fans and was made to feel welcome."

Despite Eriksson's admission, former Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri remains the front-runner to succeed Pearce providing the £100million takeover talks with former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra reach a successful conclusion.

Reports from Bangkok indicate a deal could be concluded by the end of next week, although that came from the same source who said a bid had been lodged last Saturday - a claim instantly denied by Shinawatra's London-based public relations team - the timescale has to be treated with caution.

So far, Shinawatra has made no formal offer, and with the transfer market now starting to get into full swing, City fans are fearful their club will be left behind because, with no manager in place and no idea what funds are going to be available, the Eastlands are hardly in a position to bring players in.