London, June 17 : Sven Goran-Eriksson has taken to court to throw his former partner Nancy Dell’Olio out of his 2.7-million-pound London flat.

The duo was once ranked among Britain’s golden celebrity couples – but now the relations have sunk so low between Eriksson and Dell’Olio that the former England manager has resorted to legal action to evict her from his flat.

On Tuesday, lawyers for Eriksson and Dell’Olio will battle it out in front of a judge for control of the 2.7 million pounds property in Eaton Place, Belgravia, whose neighbours include Lady Thatcher and Joan Collins.

If the 64-year-old Swede succeeds in his bid for a possession order, Dell’Olio could be forced to leave the two-bedroom flat within 28 days or face the prospect of being forcibly removed by bailiffs.

The 50-year-old Italian lawyer Dell’Olio had stayed in the stucco-fronted building when she and Eriksson broke up in 2007, claiming that they had a verbal agreement that she could live there indefinitely.

But Eriksson claimed that he agreed to let her live rent-free for only a year as a gesture of goodwill while she found a new home.

According to sources close to Dell’Olio, she would be prepared to leave only after a financial settlement.

“He told Nancy he would always take care of her financially. Their relationship went on for nearly a decade,” the Daily Mail quoted a friend of Dell’Olio as saying.

“Nancy feels she is only fighting for what she was promised,” the friend said.

Last October, a man thought to be acting for Eriksson’s lawyers had visited Dell’Olio with papers that are reportedly believed to be related to his attempts to force her to move out.

Since then, it is understood that the couple tried to resolve the issue but reached a stalemate leading to this week’s court case.

It is thought that Eriksson wants to sell the flat while he pursues football management opportunities abroad.

Eriksson had bought the flat, which is on the road and was used as the setting for TV drama ‘Upstairs Downstairs’, for just under 1 million pounds in 2005.

The couple had met in 1998 and their nine-year relationship had survived the Swede’s infidelities – with TV star Ulrika Jonsson and Faria Alam, a secretary at the FA. They finally broke up five years ago.

Neither Dell’Olio nor Eriksson is expected to attend the court proceedings in Hammersmith, West London, which is set to last just 15 minutes.

“This has been rumbling on for so long now that I think more than anything he just wants it resolved,” a source close to Eriksson added. (ANI)