Mancini nearly joined Monaco, reports say

Roberto Mancini was reportedly on the verge of joining Monaco at the end of last season before signing a new deal with Manchester City.

The 47-year-old Italian manager is understood to have met with Monaco many times over a period of almost three months to discuss the possibility of joining the second-tier French club before committing himself to Manchester City following their triumph in the English Premier League.

The Guardian has reported that all terms of the contract had been agreed to between Monaco and Mancini, which meant the French club were supremely confident they had recruited the Italian.

After Manchester City lost 1-0 away to Arsenal to drop eight points behind Manchester United in the title race, Mancini reportedly met with representatives of Monaco for the final time.

With his job rumoured to be under threat if he did not deliver the title, Monaco believed Mancini would join them on an eight million euro per year deal for five years as part of new Russian owner Dmitry Rybolovlev s plan to take the club from the principality back to Ligue 1.

Monaco, who lost the 2004 Champions League Final to FC Porto, dropped into Ligue 2 after the 2010/11 season but Rybolovlev wants to lead them back to the top of French football.

Mancini and Manchester City declined to comment on The Guardian s article.

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