SVEN-GORAN Eriksson has said it would be an honour for him to manage City.

The former England boss found himself under fire from fans after seeming to belittle the Blues in a BBC television programme.

But in an exclusive interview with M.E.N. Sport, Eriksson said he would be delighted to speak with City if they wanted him to succeed Stuart Pearce, although no approach has been made and Claudio Ranieri is the outright favourite for the job.

Eriksson said: "City is a big, big club with unbelievable support. It would be an honour for me to be manager, like it would be for all other managers. Every time I visited the club as England coach I was struck by the passion of the fans and was made to feel welcome and at home by nice people.

"They have a beautiful stadium and the possibility of a new owner and of course I would talk to them if they indicate they are interested in me becoming coach.

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"City is an established Premiership club with great potential and I know they have ambitions to be challenging higher up the table."

Eriksson said he was upset that people had felt he had insulted "a fine club" during an interview on Inside Sport earlier this week.

"I was asked if I'd had talks with City and I said `no' but a break in the programme and a different question made it appear I had said something different," he explained.

Although the 59-year-old left the England job amid a welter of unflattering tabloid headlines, and hasn't coached in domestic football since the Millennium, he has a solid-gold record in three countries.

He came to prominence winning back-to-back Swedish league titles with Gothenburg and then in a split six-year stint in Portugal he took Benfica to three league titles and a cup. He lifted the Italian Cup with Roma, Sampdoria and Lazio.

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