A deal by Manchester City for Saul Niguez in the offing after moving ahead of Barcelona in the race to sign the Atletico Madrid midfielder.
Pep Guardiola the City boss has identified Saul, 24, as a long term replacement for Fernandinho. This comes after their first choice Frenkie de Jong from Ajax signed for Barcelona.
De Jong rejected interest from City and Paris Saint-German in January to sign a pre-contract agreement with Barca ahead of a summer move to Camp Nou.
Atletico’s elimination from the Champions League last week, suffering a 3-2 aggregate defeat against Juventus, has raised doubts over the futures of several key players at the Wanda Metropolitano. Sources said that Atletico will need to raise funds in the summer through player sales, prompting Barca to pursue Saul. While Atletico are eager to hold out for around £120 million, sources said a fee of £80m would be enough to finalize a transfer.
With City spending almost two years searching for a replacement for Brazil international Fernandinho, who will be 34 in May, Guardiola now set to win the race for Saul at the end of this season as well as the front runners in the UCL and EPL tittles.