Ranieri in pole position at City

Claudio Ranieri remains the number one managerial target of prospective Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra.

Ranieri held talks with Shinawatra's advisors in London on Tuesday to gain more information about the former Thailand Prime Minister's proposed buy-out of the Eastlands outfit.

The former Chelsea coach has yet to give a formal undertaking that he will succeed axed England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce but a good indication of his thinking should come on Friday, when he is due to meet his bosses at Parma, who are still hoping Ranieri will stay with them after guiding the Serie A outfit to safety.

Should Ranieri tender his resignation, it would provide City fans anxious for news over the future of their club that everything was proceeding as planned.

However, if Ranieri opts to stay at Parma, the alarm bells will really start ringing as news of a deal, which had been anticipated over a fortnight ago, continues to take a frustratingly protracted amount of time.

Shinawatra - who is banned from politics in Thailand for five years after breaking election rules and is now living in London - would certainly appear to have the field to himself now former City player Ray Ranson has abandoned his takeover hopes.

Ranson steadfastly believed he offered a better alternative than Shinawatra but despite his optimism a deal could be done which would wipe away some of City's near £60million debt and supply a new manager with a substantial transfer kitty, there were serious doubts among the City hierarchy about his ability to deliver the cash.

Some senior Blues officials were openly hostile to Ranson and, although talks were continuing despite Shinawatra's emergence as a likely buyer, these were only through third parties. So, with the chances of an agreement being reached virtually non-existent, Ranson has backed out.

"Ray has been unable to reach agreement with the board in progressing discussions and therefore announces that he is withdrawing from further talks relating to a possible offer for the club," said a statement released to the Stock Exchange.

A source close to Ranson revealed the decision had been taken "out of great frustration and with a very heavy heart".