City not drawn on claims Mancini was in Monaco talks

Manchester City last night refused to comment on claims manager Roberto Mancini was involved in talks about becoming boss of Monaco last season.

The Guardian reported on their website that Mancini spoke to the wealthy Ligue 2 outfit earlier this year with a view to joining them at the end of the last campaign.

It is claimed the Italian, who like City declined to comment on the claims, was offered a big-money contract and that the club expected him to sign.

According to the paper, Mancini was offered a tax-free five-year contract during a meeting in Rome with Monaco’s majority shareholder, Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, willing to pay Mancini €8m (£6.4m) a year, plus substantial bonuses, if he left the Etihad Stadium.

The Rome meeting took place shortly after City’s 1-0 defeat at Arsenal in early April, a result that left Mancini’s team trailing Manchester United by eight points in the title race with just six games left.

Mancini publicly conceded the title after that match and the suggestion is he was flirting with Monaco in the expectation that he would lose his job at City.

But then United faltered and City clinched the title for the first time in 44 years in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season and Mancini signed a new five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium over the summer.

However, his future has started to come under scrutiny recently due to City’s difficulties in the Champions League, reports of tension between Mancini and his players and the fact that both club and manager chose to refuse to comment rather than publicly deny yesterday’s claims, suggests the Italian has questions to answer.