Manchester City chiefs want Pep Guardiola to succeed Manuel Pellegrini as manager. The Daily Mail says the feeling is that Pellegrini will survive into the final year of his three-year contract as City wait for No 1 target Guardiola to end his spell at Bayern Munich.

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti have been touted as possible replacements, though Simeone is not liked by the City board, while Ancelotti's links with the club are, according to sources, the result of allies putting his name forward as he looks to find a way out of an increasingly unhappy spell at Real Madrid.

Guardiola talks regularly with City chief executive Ferran Soriano and football director Txiki Begiristain, though any switch is unlikely until 2016 when the Spaniard's contract expires.