Claudio Ranieri is set to become Manchester City's manager if a prospective takeover by Thaksin Shinawatra goes through. Ranieri is due to meet his current employers, Parma, tomorrow to discuss his future but has set his heart on returing to the Premiership at Eastlands.
Thaksin is completing due diligence with a view to buying City but also had matters in his native Thailand to consider yesterday after he was banned from politics for five years and his party, the first to win an absolute majority in the country's history, disbanded. The ban extended to the entire 111-member executive committee of his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais).
If, as expected, Ranieri is appointed at City he will inherit a healthy situation, according to his predecessor, Stuart Pearce. The former England defender who was sacked last month, said City's squad has a "much bigger resale value than it had two years ago" when he took over. He feels he did "a lot of good at the club over a difficult period of time when the club had no finance".
Ray Ranson has abandoned plans to purchase City.
