Manchester City are in the race to sign Partizan Belgrade youngster Matija Popović, as per multiple reports from Italy.
The 17-year-old’s deal expires at the end of this month. This, coupled with his profile and potential, has seen a few clubs take notice.
Calciomercato.it state AC Milan have been negotiating for a while and ‘all that is missing’ is the deal to be made official once he turns 18 years of age on January 8th.
The Serie A side are optimistic the deal could be made official for Popović, who is also courted by Manchester City and Barcelona. The report explains that the latter two are ready to take advantage, if the Rossoneri were to hesitate at the last minute.
That hasn’t happened yet but the Citizens seem to have taken further steps to beat Milan for this operation. Calciomercato claim the Italian club must ‘watch out’ for Manchester City, who are ‘serious’ about the attacking midfielder.
It’s said Pep Guardiola’s side have ‘entered forcefully’ by making an ‘official offer’. Despite this, the report states Milan are confident of getting the deal over the line, once they sort out issues around the non-EU slot in their squad.
This optimism isn’t shared by TuttoMercatoWeb, who say Manchester City have entered the race in recent days and have now overtaken Milan.
It’s claimed the treble winners are in ‘direct contact’ with the teenager and also made an ‘official offer’ to him. TMW reckon Manchester City’s proposal could be the ‘decisive one to convince’ Popović to pick them over Milan.
Stefano Pioli’s side must act fast now and find a way to get ahead of the Premier League winners in the transfer race.
