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! 
