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Manchester City meet with Ancelotti during international break as they step up pursuit of Real Madrid boss
By Manchester correspondent Alex Stevens
Manchester City will meet with representatives of Carlo Ancelotti during the international break as they press ahead with plans to replace Manuel Pellegrini with the Real Madrid manager.
Sources have told Football Insider that Ancelotti is expected to leave the Bernabeu at the end of the season and City are targeting the Italian as Pellegrini’s successor.
A City delegation will have a meeting with the Ancelotti camp during the international break and assess his interest in taking over at Etihad Stadium this summer.
Pellegrini’s position is under threat in the wake of the Premier League club’s Champions League exit to Barcelona at the last-16 stage and a disappointing domestic campaign that will almost certainly end without a trophy.
City’s No1 choice to replace Pellegrini is Pep Guardiola but the Spaniard is contracted to Bayern Munich until the end of next season and the German giants are unlikely to allow him to leave.
However, City have been encouraged by the growing expectation that Ancelotti could be available. As reported by Football Insider earlier this month, the man who steered Real to the Champions League title last season is in danger of being sacked by the Spanish giants at the end of the season.
Senior figures at Real have been disappointed at how far the team have slipped since their club-record 22-match winning run came to an end in the first week of January.
City made contact with Ancelotti earlier this month and are convinced that he has the pedigree that City are looking for should they decide to dismiss Pellegrini at the end of his second season at Etihad Stadium.
Ancelotti has won three Champions League titles with two different clubs, Real and AC Milan, and league titles in three different countries, Italy, England and France.
Significantly, he also has experience of managing in the Premier League after two years with Chelsea from 2009-2011, winning the Premier League and FA Cup in his first season.