New deal from club's Abu Dhabi owners is irrespective of whether City win Premier League title and could be signed within a fortnight
Manchester City will offer Roberto Mancini a new €18.5 million (£15m) three-year contract this month to keep him at Etihad Stadium, Goal.com can reveal.
Mancini’s current deal expires in June 2013 and City’s Abu Dhabi owners intend to tie up a fresh agreement irrespective of whether the title favourites win the Premier League on Sunday.
Sources have told Goal.com that Mancini will hold face-to-face talks with owner Sheikh Mansour and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak when the season finishes.
Both parties are expecting a swift resolution to negotiations and a new contract could even be signed within the next fortnight.
“The contract is coming to Mancini,” an insider told Goal.com. “Everyone is concentrating on Sunday but as soon as the season finishes Mancini will sit down with Sheikh Mansour and Al Mubarak.
“It is just a matter of sorting out the detail and is regardless of the title. There will be no problem with the figures and it is expected to be sorted very soon.”
As Goal.com revealed in March, Mancini indicated to City chiefs before Christmas that he was willing to open talks over an extension to his contract but the Italian was told that negotiations would not begin until the summer.
After taking a calculated gamble by delaying talks with Mancini to protect themselves from having to pay a huge compensation fee were he to be dismissed, it is understood that Sheikh Mansour and Al Mubarak have now made a firm decision to stick with the 47-year-old following the team’s convincing finish to the season.
Mancini, who joined the club in December 2009, is settled in England and is happy to extend his current agreement by two years, rather than seek a longer term deal.
The new €6.2m-a-year (£5m) contract will be a considerable upgrade on his current agreement, which is worth €4.3m-a-year (£3.5m) before bonuses.
As an accounting measure, City’s policy is to sign off the contracts of players and coaching staff at the end of the season.
As revealed by Goal.com earlier this year, the club have offered David Silva and Vincent Kompany contract extensions but they will not be formally completed before mid-May.
Two trophies, two sets of medals ... but only one winner in title race for the Premier League
The Premier League has ordered winners’ medals for both Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson – but only one boss will ever see theirs.
As part of the preparations for Sunday’s finale, when either City or United will be crowned champions, the Premier League have commissioned two sets of nine-carat gold medals, only one of which will ever be used. They are also planning ticker-tape presentation ceremonies at the Etihad Stadium, where City play QPR, and the Stadium of Light, where United face Sunderland.
Identical podiums and firework displays will be dispatched to Manchester and Sunderland in an operation the Premier League have revealed will take ‘military precision’ to pull off. But they are keeping the rest of their plans top secret.
There will a trophy at the Etihad Stadium and the Stadium of Light – either the Champions trophy, currently in the care of United, or a replica owned by sponsors Barclays – but the league are remaining tight-lipped over where the real trophy will be.
They are also keeping the identity of the two presentations parties, which will include a representative from the Premier League and Barclays, under wraps until the weekend.
“The presentations parties are to be confirmed and the plans are always subject to change,” said a spokesman.
“We’ve been planning for this for a while and we will have teams at both stadiums on Sunday. It has been planned with military precision.”
City head into the final-day fixtures as the bookies’ favourites to lift the title. They need only to match United’s result against Sunderland when they host relegation-threatened QPR, thanks to their superior goal difference of +8.
The destination of the Premier League has been decided on the last day five times since its inception in 1992. United have been involved on each occasion, winning three times and losing out twice.
If City match United’s result on Sunday, it will be the first time the Premier League has been decided on goal difference.
United, meanwhile, will be forced to ask for special dispensation to allow club captain Nemanja Vidic to receive a medal should they win the league because he hasn’t made the required 10 appearances. Find Tickets for Sporting Events - Viagogo
Jamie Redknapp's team of the season
Part One: The Goalkeeper
This week I will be picking my team of the year, breaking it down into different areas of the pitch and climaxing with my final line-up on Saturday.
The beauty of this method is that I can talk through my reasoning and mention others who have had very good seasons, but just failed to make the cut. Hopefully that will avoid too much criticism and controversy!
In some categories, it's very tight. In midfield, especially, where I might change the formation to be able to include one or two alternatives. I'm still working on a final line-up. The file on my iPad includes lots of changes and deleting. I've studied the OPTA stats to either support my selections or dispute my original selections.
Let's start with my goalkeeper.
The form goalkeeper of the final part of the season has been Petr Cech of Chelsea. Twice he stood up to Barcelona and then produced an incredible save to stop Andy Carroll in the FA Cup final. He has reproduced his match-winning form of old. He will be a formidable barrier for Bayern Munich to pass in the Champions League final.
But he doesn't make my all-star team. Statistics don't always tell the full story, but I wanted to check on the clean sheet record for goalkeepers to see if it threw up any surprises.
The only goalkeeper who appears in the top five of 'clean sheets' and 'saves' is Swansea's Michel Vorm, who has to be one of the best value-for-money signings of the season in any position, having cost £1.5million last summer. His agility and his kicking skills as a sweeper keeper make him a contender for my team.
Tim Krul, another Dutchman, has also been essential to the progress of his team, Newcastle, while the evergreen Brad Friedel has given Tottenham a platform with his calm, assured and sometimes spectacular goalkeeping. Not bad for a free transfer.
I also like Norwich's John Ruddy who, like Vorm, has been essential to the form of a promoted team. I suspect he will be pushing for an England cap soon. With so few English goalkeepers to choose from, Ruddy's impact comes at a great time for Roy Hodgson.
Wayne Hennessey's place on the list might explain one of the reasons why Wolves have been relegated. He has been too busy behind a leaky defence.
There are only two other Englishmen on the lists above. One is Ben Foster, who has retired from international football (I wonder if he will change his mind now his club manager has been appointed as Fabio Capello's successor?).
The other is the reason Ruddy, Foster and any other Englishman will be waiting a long time to be considered No 1 - Joe Hart.
Of course he is helped by the quality in front of him, especially Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott, but Hart is the best goalkeeper in the world. Yes, better than the multi-trophy-winning Iker Casillas of Spain and Real Madrid.
Back-to-back clean sheets, against Manchester United and Newcastle, have helped his team to the brink of the title. Sir Alex Ferguson has already publicly admitted his mistake in rejecting the chance to buy Hart from Shrewsbury. It's an area in which City are much stronger than United.
Hart is capable of the spectacular, but is also mature. His concentration levels are excellent, even with long spells of inactivity, and he is ready when called upon to pull off a match-winning save.
David Seaman was the best I played with for that level of concentration and Hart is similar. No great surprise that he is my first selection. I'm glad he is English.
I'd love to end my career at Barca: City star Toure eying possible return to Spain
Yaya Toure has admitted he would love to finish his career with a return to Barcelona.
The Manchester City midfielder, whose two goals against Newcastle on Sunday moved the club to the brink of their first title since 1968, was sold by the European champions in the summer of 2010 and the Ivorian says a return to Spain would be tempting.
'I would love to return to Barcelona and finish my sporting career there,' the 28-year-old told Spanish radio station Rac1. 'I love the city and Barca has always been the club of my life.I have a lot of desire to return to Barcelona Football Club.
Nou Camp return? Toure left Barca for City
And Toure, who City would be very unlikely to sell, said his good friend Eric Abidal's recent liver transplant is part of the reason he would want to return to Spain.
'I would also like to be close to Abidal, he is my brother,' said Toure. 'I want to support him.'
Pep Guardiola allowed Toure to join City for £24million but Barcelona would be unlikely to want him back even though he is popular with the fans and has a good relationship with new coach Tito Vilanova.
'The decision by Pep Guardiola to leave was a little strange because the club has had years of success and trophies. But we are all human. I know the new coach very well. He is a very good person and his footballing philosophy is similar to Guardiola. He will be a very good coach.'
Toure has become incredibly popular at City after scoring the winner in last season's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United, the final against Stoke and the crucial double at St James' Park.
OTHER BOLLOX
In-demand Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen has urged the Amsterdam side not to price him out of a move to Tottenham. Daily Telegraph
Arsenal have agreed a fee of around £17m with Rennes for 21-year-old anchorman Yann M'Vila. The deal is set to be concluded at the end of the season. Metro
The Gunners' spending could continue with the acquisition of Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm. Daily Mail
Tottenham full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto has denied reports he has a "gentleman's agreement" with chairman Daniel Levy to leave White Hart Lane this summer. the Sun
Liverpool are set to revive their interest in Dutchman Eljero Elia, who they first tracked when he was at Hamburg. The 25-year-old attacker has failed to settle at Juventus and is keen to leave Italy in search of first-team football. talkSHIT
Everton left-back Leighton Baines, 27, is a summer target for both Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Daily Mirror
West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green is ready to swap the Championship for the Champions League with a move to Spanish side Malaga. Daily Mirror
Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has identified 29-year-old Wolves midfielder Karl Henry as the man to add experience to his side in the summer. the Guardian
Stoke are ready to make a £4m swoop for Swedish defender Martin Olsson, 23, who is likely to leave Blackburn following their relegation to the Championship. the Sun
Canadian forward Junior Hoilett, 21, another player set to depart Ewood Park, has been targeted by Sunderland. the Independent
MK Dons are preparing a double swoop for Dundee United pair Paul Dixon and Scott Robertson, while Aberdeen have joined Hibernian in the race to sign out-of-contract Tannadice midfielder Danny Swanson. the Sun
Chelsea defender John Terry could be the surprise omission from new manager Roy Hodgson's England squad for Euro 2012. Daily Mail
Hodgson believes he cannot select Terry alongside Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and is ready to make a choice between the pair. Former captain Terry will appear in court accused of racially abusing Ferdinand's brother Anton in July.the Independent
The England boss already knows his Euro 2012 squad and will name the 23 players he wants to take to Poland and Ukraine on 16 May. Daily Star
Veteran Everton defender Phil Neville, 35, could join Hodgson's backroom staff for the tournament. Daily Express
West Brom are in talks with former Chelsea and Inter Milan boss Claudio Ranieri to replace England-bound Hodgson. Daily Mail
But the Baggies are also planning to speak to Birmingham City manager Chris Hughton this week - if the Blues fail to beat Blackpool in their Championship play-off semi-final tonight. the Daily Telegraph
Wigan owner Dave Whelan feared the Football Association would approach his manager Roberto Martinez about replacing Fabio Capello as England boss. Whelan insists the Spaniard is "the best manager in the Premier League". the Daily Telegraph
Wolves caretaker boss Terry Connor could get the job on a permanent basis after having a formal interview for the post. Express and Star
Rangers owner Craig Whyte is on the verge of striking a deal to sell the club to a wealthy British consortium made up of a number of people with experience from clubs in England's Premier League. the Sun
American trucking tycoon Bill Miller says he withdrew his bid for Rangers because he did not wish to risk a portion of his children's inheritance in a takover that involved such huge costs amid much uncertainty and facing hostility from the club's fans. Daily Record
Furious Rangers players are set to demand showdown talks with the club's administrator as many of their contracts near expiry and they have complained to the players' union they are being kept in the dark. Daily Record
Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso, who spent five seasons at Liverpool before moving to the Bernabeu, kept boss Jose Mourinho, formerly Chelsea's manager, informed on how their old teams were getting on in Saturday's FA Cup final, despite Real being in the midst of a league match away to Malaga. Alonso, named as a substitute, kept abreast of the latest score via his mobile phone on the bench. Metro
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has made a cameo appearance in French singer Julia Channel's music video. 101 Great Goals
