Manchester City's new manager should be announced within the next two weeks, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said on the Premier League club's website on Friday. "We have a wonderful team running this process internally. They have created a shortlist of managers... and we are pretty much done. We are very close. I expect to make an appointment probably in the next two weeks."
Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini has been strongly linked with the post, vacant since the sacking of Italian Roberto Mancini earlier this month, and he told Spanish radio on Wednesday that he had a "verbal agreement" to join City. At a news conference on the eve of his last match in charge of Malaga at Spanish champions Barcelona in La Liga on Saturday, the Chilean said a deal had not been done but he expected to sort out his future on Monday after his contract expires.
Pellegrini said City, who lost their league title to arch-rivals Manchester United and were FA Cup runners-up after a shock defeat by Wigan Athletic last season, will have a side that plays "very good football" if he is confirmed as manager. "City have a great team and a clear plan on how things will develop. This motivates me," he added. "Manchester City have offered me a great project. Hopefully, it becomes official.
"I cannot say that I am their coach, but I don't see that there will be any problems," said the 59-year-old former Villarreal and Real Madrid boss who was given a standing ovation by the media after his last Malaga news conference. Al Mubarak added: "We obviously want sustainable success for this club and (picking the manager) is absolutely the most important decision for a football club.
"The type of person we would like running our football team is someone with great man-management capability and the ability to get the best out of the talent we have, get the best out of the youth we have and establish and continue a systematic approach from the youth team to the elite team and reserves."
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