BEIJING, July 9 - China captain Sun Jihai has denied media reports stating he will be discarded by English Premier League side Manchester City, saying the club had contacted him about playing next season.

"I don't know where the English media sourced this from -- saying that I would be a target of the club's clean-out," the 29-year-old defender told Titan, a Chinese sport newspaper.

"I just talked to the club by telephone very recently. They asked me to keep fit, as they are waiting for me to come back to train and compete," Sun said.

Deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra won an estimated 81 million pound ($163 million) takeover bid for City last month, and former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was named as manager on Friday.

Thaksin has pledged a transfer kitty to rebuild the club, which finished 14th in the 20-team Premier League in May and promptly sacked Stuart Pearce as manager.

Two of their leading players, Joey Barton and French defender Sylvain Distin, have already left the club.

Sun said he knew little about the club's new hierarchy.

"Somebody told me (Eriksson) would be in favour of me. I don't know where such hearsay comes from and I will not think about," he said.

"Also I'm not familiar with Eriksson and his coaching style and squad. I think he knows little about me as well... I'll rely on my own strength to play Premier League."

Sun is one of three captains leading China at the Asian Cup, a 16-nation tournament jointly hosted by Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Pooled in Group C with Malaysia, Iran and Uzbekistan, China kicks off its Asian Cup campaign against Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.