Pellegrini’s City contract delayed due to Malaga salary row

Manuel Pellegrini’s plans to be the manager of Manchester City have been put on hold by a £3.2m contract issue with Malaga CF.

According to Mirror, Pellegrini has not been paid by his former club for two months and if it stretches out to a third month without remuneration, then the manager will be able to walk out of that club for free.

This in turn, means that City will not have to shell out the amount required to meet the £3.2m buy-out clause, releasing Pellegrini from the final year of his deal with the Spanish side.

City are already paying recently sacked manager, Roberto Mancini, a sum of £7m in compensation. Given this particular arrangement, City is quite relieved at the idea of not having to pay another hefty amount to rope in his replacement.

Pellegrini has already met with City chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Txiki Begiristain, in an effort to put the plan in motion for the next season. He has also agreed to a three year deal worth £15m with the City and would have been appointed as their manager, earlier this week, had it not been for the issues pertaining to Malaga’s financial situation.

In spite of the contract stand-off, City are insistent that Pellegrini will be in the office and fully functional, starting July 1, once he has returned from holiday.

Malaga are already in deep waters due to its serious financial crisis. The club have been banned from competing in next season’s Europa League by UEFA as a penalty for failing to pay their players’ wages and transfer fees on time.