Inter look to City ace

Inter Milan are set to lodge an official £12m offer for Manchester City left-back Aleksander Kolarov in the coming days.

It comes after the Serbian defender admits he may be forced to look beyond the Premier League champions to secure regular first-team football. Kolarov, 26, made only 12 league appearances last season, with Blues boss Roberto Mancini preferring to use him in the Champions League and other cup competitions. He has now fallen behind French defender Gael Clichy in the pecking order and Inter want to take him back to Italy, where the player cultivated a big reputation with his previous club Lazio. City have dismissed any notion of a loan deal involving Juventus and Inter have contacted Mancini about the possibility of bringing Kolarov to the San Siro. The Manchester side paid £17m for his services and want to recoup as much money as possible to go out and buy a replacement, although sources continue to insist a move for Tottenham winger Gareth Bale could serve that dual purpose. Inter could also throw in Romanian centre-back Andrea Ranocchia, 24, as a makeweight to secure Kolarov.