AVRAM GRANT, sacked by Chelsea last night after less than nine months in charge, is in line for a quick return to Premier League management with Manchester City. Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson, whose United side beat Chelsea in the Champions League final in Moscow on Wednesday, has vowed he will leave his post in three years “at the very, very most”.

Grant, who said his farewells to the Chelsea players on Friday, was summoned to meet Roman Abramovich, the club’s owner, at his London home to be informed of his dismissal in person. The two men are long-standing friends, and Abramovich did not want the Israeli to be told by anybody else.

However, he has now emerged as the favourite to succeed Sven-Göran Eriksson, who lost the confidence of City owner Thaksin Shinawatra in the second half of the season. Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian World Cup-winner who coaches Portugal, was first choice but is believed to have priced himself out of the job.

Shinawatra, unlike Abramovich, was impressed by the fact that Grant’s Chelsea ran Manchester United close in the domestic championship and were within John Terry’s missed penalty of beating them in Moscow. He is further attracted by the dignity Grant has shown in difficult circumstances since taking over from Jose Mourinho last year. City are understood to have made offers for four players, for a total of £20m, since the end of the Premier League season, with Pini Zahavi, the Israeli “super agent”, acting on their behalf.

City’s appointment of Grant would have a certain irony, Eriksson having been courted by Chelsea before Mourinho got the job, and currently being linked with it again, although that is probably wishful thinking on his part. Zahavi is again involved here, recommending the former England coach to Abramovich. The favourite to replace Grant at Stamford Bridge remains Frank Rijkaard, who is leaving Barcelona after five years, during which time he won the European Cup, in 2006. Reports in Italy last night suggested Mourinho was about to replace Roberto Mancini at Internazionale, and make Frank Lampard his first signing for the Milan club.

Speaking in the wake of Manchester United’s European Cup triumph, Ferguson said he could not see himself as a manager by the time he turns 70, in December 2011. Ferguson also promised that his star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, would remain at Old Trafford for a minimum of two more years. “He knows what’s best for him,” he said.

Keen to avoid a repeat of the decline in United in 2001-02, after he had said the previous season that he would be retiring, Ferguson is likely to go out with an element of surprise, before any set date. “I won’t be manager here when I’m 70 and I won’t be managing any more than another three years at the very, very most. That is without question,” he said.

“I think most things will be my decision. And I think David Gill [United’s chief executive] is happy with that.” He added it would be up to Gill and the Glazer family, who own United, to appoint his successor. “It’s not my job to groom a replacement and it wouldn’t be fair to tell the Glazers what to do,” Ferguson said. It is understood, however, that if asked he will recommend promoting his No 2, Carlos Queiroz.