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Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini ducked out of a ceremony to welcome his title-winning team to their pre-season training camp in Austria on Sunday night as speculation grows over his future.

However, Blues fans will be relieved that the Italian HAS travelled with the squad to the high-altitude base for the next two weeks after he was linked with quitting for the Russian national team job.

The title-winning players arrived in Seefeld tonight to cheers from locals and the boom of an oompah band, but Mancini avoided the crowds.

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Sources suggested he may have used a private entrance round the back of the five-star hotel or even delayed his arrival altogether to escape attention.

The move disappointed local officials, who had planned to hand over a specially-made lederhosen to the Blues boss on the red carpet.

City players who have been on Euro 2012 duty have been given a break and will not be coming to the camp, during which the club will play three training matches.

A crowd of around 500 - one-sixth of the village's population - had turned out to welcome the latest Premier League club to stay in the spa resort in the Alps.

Players from AS Monaco are staying in the four-star hotel next door to City.

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