Club ‘one step away’ from signing Manchester City target – Pep Guardiola’s side ‘were close’ to landing youngster

Back in the last week, reports from the Italian media named Manchester City as one of the contenders to sign Matija Popovic, who’s running out of contract with Partizan Belgrade.

It was claimed that with AC Milan’s ‘hesitation’ to offer him a contract due to the few spots for non-EU players in the squad, the English champions could end up landing the 17-year-old.

TuttoMercatoWeb now has an update on the race for Popovic, they claim Manchester City’s interest actually impacted on the Rossoneri to make a stronger move for the signing.

It’s claimed that since Pep Guardiola’s side entered the scene, that made Milan ‘break the deadlock’ and they’re now ‘one step away’ from closing his arrival.

TMW insist that Manchester City ‘were close’ to Popovic, but the player is really set to join the Serie A giants after Christmas.

The youngster can only sign for Milan after the 8th of January, when he turns 18. But with the agreement already found, it seems no one will try to hijack that deal anymore.