The France international had been close to moving to the Etihad Stadium in January when City attempted to complete a double move for the 23-year-old centre-half and Brazilian midfielder Fernando.
Manchester United and Paris St Germain have also pursued Mangala, but City had appeared to be favourites to sign the player, despite accepting a £49million fine from Uefa last week for falling foul of Financial Fair Play regulations.
However, in an interview with Bein Sports, Mangala has now admitted that he favours a move to Chelsea because he would rather play in London.
"City or Chelsea? Chelsea because it is London,” Mangala said, when asked which club he would prefer to play for.
"It is true that I love the Premier League because it is a spectacular championship. In January, there were discussions with City, but it fell through because the two clubs could not reach an agreement.
"Every player wants to play in the biggest clubs. I am an ambitious player and the team that can help me win titles is the one that interests me."
With Mangala now preparing for the World Cup after being named in Didier Deschamps’ France squad, he has insisted that he will put his club future on hold until after the tournament in Brazil.
"My goal now is the World Cup,” Mangala said. “We will see what happens after that. I told Jorge Mendes [his agent] that I don't want to know anything about the transfer window until then.”
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