City won't rush Pellegrini appointment

Manchester City will bide their time before moving to appoint Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini to replace the sacked Roberto Mancini as their manager.

PA PhotosManuel Pellegrini is in demand across Europe

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The 2012 Premier League champions are set to move for the Chilean as they look for a successor to Mancini, who was dismissed on Monday evening.

 But they will not be rushed into an appointment and assistant manager Brian Kidd, who is in caretaker charge, is set to remain at the helm for their last two league games, at Reading on Tuesday night and at home to Norwich on Sunday.

The former Manchester United assistant manager, who played for both Manchester clubs, is also going to be in charge for City's post-season tour to the United States, when they face Chelsea in St Louis on May 23 and in New York two days later.

Mancini's other assistant, David Platt, is expected to follow his former Sampdoria team-mate out of the club. The futures of other members of Mancini's backroom staff, reserve-team manager Attilio Lombardo and coach Angelo Gregucci, are more uncertain with a major overhaul expected.

Pellegrini, who has a €4 million release clause, is likely to leave cash-strapped Malaga in the summer after guiding them to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The City Went Dark

Roberto Mancini has been fired by Man City only two days after defeat in Saturday's FA Cup final against Wigan consigned the big-money club to a trophy-less campaign. City's subpar results in 2012-13:

Barren Season

Competition	Result
Premier League*	2nd place
Champions League	Group stage
FA Cup	Runner-up
League Cup	3rd round
*With two games left City's sporting director Txiki Begiristain met the Chilean's agent, Jesus Martinez, in Madrid last month and it was reported inMalaga Hoy that Pellegrini himself had talks with the Premier League club on Sunday.

Before then, however, the former Real Madrid manager said: "I have not signed an agreement with anyone - not with Manchester City, not with Roma, not with Napoli, not with PSG [Paris Saint-Germain], not with any of the clubs who have been mentioned."

Despite his denials, it has been reported that Pellegrini has verbally agreed to join City.

Mancini's final game was Saturday's 1-0 FA Cup final defeat to Wigan. He won the FA Cup in 2011 and the Premier League in 2012 and had four years left on a £7 million-a-year contract when he was sacked.