HIS team might be challenging for trophies on four fronts, but one of the country’s top football managers has still found time to discover York - and says it is one of his favourite things about England.

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini, who took over at the Premier League title-chasers last summer, revealed in an interview this week that he had used some of his spare time to visit York recently, and liked what he saw.

Asked by the Manchester Evening News what he had enjoyed most about England other than football, the Chilean replied: “This six months or so has been 24 hours of football, but the other day after the match I went to York because I like to know all the country.

“It was a very beautiful city. A lot of villages and towns here are very beautiful because there’s a lot of history behind them. ”