Manchester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson must accept a pay-cut to make a return to Benfica in the summer.

The Daily Mail says the Swede met Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira and sporting director Rui Costa at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, where he has been living during his 10 months in the city.

It is believed that the Benfica contingent left the meeting believing the former England coach would take the job, but Eriksson later told friends he was still undecided.

Eriksson managed Benfica from 1982-84 and 1989-92, and Vieira had high hopes of tempting him back when he arrived in Manchester on a private jet yesterday morning, but his offer of £1.8million a year will not match the £2.5m the Swede earns at City.