Winning the Premier League is the next step in City’s evolution and if Roberto Mancini fails to deliver after being in the clear for such a long period of the season, he will more than likely find himself out of a job, but with Chelsea on the hunt for a new manager, could Mancini finally find himself at Stamford Bridge?

It’s been a somewhat slow rise to prominence for City, it was in 2008 when the Abu Dhabi United Group took over, giving then manager Mark Hughes unlimited riches, smashing the British transfer record to sign Robinho for £32.5 million on the way to finishing 10th and reaching the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup.

The following season, City spent over £100 million on players including Gareth Barry, Kolo Toure and Carlos Tevez, however Mark Hughes still couldn’t take the team onto the next stage and was replaced by Mancini. He lead City to fifth place in his first half a season as manager, losing out to Tottenham in the closing stages of the season meant they missed out on Champions League football.

However, rather than replace Mancini, City stuck by him, giving him even more money to sign the likes of Yaya Toure, David Silva and Mario Balotelli. Because of these signings, many believed Mancini would have to bring the title to Manchester City, however Mancini always reiterated that securing Champions League football was the ultimate goal for this season.

They did just that and finished 3rd, securing Champions League football and in the close season spent even more money, again many believed winning or getting close to the Champions League would be the level for Mancini and City to reach, but being knocked out of the group stages and not being sacked proved this to be wrong.

Winning the title has to be the next step in City’s evolution, moving from mid-table to Europe, from Europe to winning a trophy, from winning a trophy to the Champions League, from the Champions League places to winning the title.

The Champions League isn’t yet seen as a sort of Holy Grail like it is at Chelsea, City first must become Champions of England and if Mancini doesn’t, he may find he is out of a job.

It was at the time of the City takeover that Mancini was heavily rumored to become the Chelsea manager after the sacking of Avram Grant, Mancini himself had just been fired by Inter Milan where he had won three consecutive Serie A titles.

His agent Giorgio De Giorgis said at the time "As of now, there is no contact with Chelsea, Mancini is not a person or a coach who likes to propose himself to a club, he waits for a club to look for him so we are in that position right now.”

“We are not proposing Mancini to any club. Chelsea are one of the top five clubs in the world so it is more likely, if there will be any talk, there is more of a chance of it to happen now than before."

At the time, Mancini was involved in a contract settlement following his sacking, the former Leicester City player still had five years remaining worth around £4.7 million a year and because of this was unavailable to be hired and the job went to Luiz Felipe Scolari, could it be that six years later Mancini finally gets the Chelsea job?

Mancini clearly is a good manager, winning three consecutive titles in the worlds most tactical league is proof enough, and was earmarked as a potential manager six years ago, and Mancini has done little to damage his reputation. He has also been able to handle the massive ego’s at Manchester City, and player power has not been an issue so far.

Of course, the one thing missing from Mancini’s CV is the Champions League, and having been knocked out in the group stages this year may sway against him as Chelsea long for a new manager following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas, but Mancini could quite easily find himself out of Manchester and into Chelsea, should he lose the title to Manchester City.

Would Mancini to Chelsea be realistic? Would he be a success? Tweet me your thoughts @deanmears.