Eriksson, delighted by the huge campaign urging the club to stick with him, has indicated he would stay on as City's boss, if owner Thaksin Shinawatra changes his mind.

Ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin had been expected to dismiss the Swede after the close-season tour of the Far East, which concludes in Hong Kong on Thursday but there is still a possibility of an unprecendented U-turn from the controversial owner.

Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh, who is in the Far East with the City party, has made Thaksin fully aware of just how popular Eriksson is with the club's players and significantly the fans.

Eriksson is already understood to have turned down an offer to manage Benfica, and is also believed to be cool on an approach to coach Mexico's national side.

The City boss, who secured a top 10 Premier League finish and an unexpected UEFA place through the Fair Play League, is scheduled to hold a meeting with Thaksin in the next 48 hours when a decision will
finally be announced.

If Eriksson goes, captain Richard Dunne is likely to follow, with Tottenham and Sunderland joining Newcastle and West Ham on the list of clubs interested in the club's talisman.

Eriksson's situation will not have been helped by a weakened Blues side's surprise 3- 1 defeat to a Thai All-Stars team in Bangkok on Saturday.

Felipe Caicedo scored his first City goal to put them in front, but Brazilian Ney Fabiano Oliveira equalised, before Tawan Sripan and Tana Chanabut gave the Thai side victory.

Bulgarian striker Valeri Bojinov made his first senior start since August as he stepped up his recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury, while first-team squad regulars Javier Garrido, Sun Jihai, Darius Vassell, Geovanni, Dietmar Hamann and Martin Petrov also got a run-out.

Thai trio Teerasil Dangda, Suree Sukha and Kiatprawut Saiwaew came off the bench for their City debuts.

The tour could well see Sun Jihai's last action in a City shirt, but the China international, who is out of contract this summer, wants to stay in England.

He said: "I'd love to stay playing in English football. I haven't had an answer from the club about renewing my contract. I'm happy but I want to know where I'll be playing."

City target Giovani Dos Santos has indicated that he wants to stay at Barcelona.

The 19-year-old Mexican, who scored a hat-trick in Barca's final league match on Saturday, said: "It was Barca who opened doors for me and they are still my first option.

"It is the media that keep saying that I do not feature in the club's plans, nobody else."