Former England boss Sam Allardyce has claimed he could have become Manchester City manager instead of Sven-Goran Eriksson.
“Big Sam" was in charge of Bolton from 1999 to 2007, ensuring the minnows remained in the Premier League for several years.
Speaking to William Hill and Footy Accumulators' No Tippy Tappy Football, Allardyce claims that he could have gone to City in 2007 instead of Newcastle United.
He stated: “I was going to be the Manchester City manager when Stuart [Pearce] left in 2007.
“That was a deal that was done and dusted which was going to happen with John Wardle and David Makin, the owners of JD Sports.
“I think that they wanted me to come and help rebuild the club because they'd seen what I had done at Bolton.
“I'd left Bolton and was ready to go into the job and of course the day before it was due there was a phone call from either John or Dave to say 'I'm very sorry Sam but we've sold the club and they want Sven-Goran Eriksson.'
“That was a disappointment but I ended up at Newcastle, so it looked like it was going in the right way at Man City and that changed unfortunately for me when the ownership changed, but Mike Ashley took over from Freddie Shepherd at Newcastle who chose me as manager."
