NOT JO-KING Man City step up £100m Joao Felix transfer pursuit as chiefs meet Benfica president and agent Jorge Mendes in London
MANCHESTER CITY and Benfica have held talks - with £100million teen star Joao Felix on the radar.
Posted Friday, May 31, 2019 by Thesun.co.uk
SunSport can reveal Etihad chief executive Ferran Soriano had a meeting with president of the Portuguese giants Luis Filipe Vieira and Jorge Mendes in London yesterday.
Man City chiefs met with Benfica president and super-agent Jorge Mendes to talk over a £100m deal for wonderkid Joao FelixCredit: Getty - Contributor
Super-agent Mendes is a key deal-maker for Benfica and the trio met at the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge.
Felix, 19, is a target for Pep Guardiola with City in negotiations to sell Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich.
The Premier League champions are believed to have rejected a £70m bid from the German giants for the winger yesterday as they hold out for closer to £90m.
Sane, 23, is stalling on a new deal at the Etihad and that could prove crucial for the two clubs to eventually strike a deal.
City say that Soriano’s meeting with Vieira was a chance encounter but Felix would be a perfect addition to Guardiola’s Treble-winning squad.
NEW BLOOD NEEDED
Guardiola wants to keep his squad hungry for more success and the youngster is seen as one of the brightest prospects in Europe after an amazing start to senior football with Benfica.
City director of football Txiki Begiristain went to Benfica earlier in the season primarily to keep tabs on Eintracht Frankfurt striker Luka Jovic.
Serb star Jovic, 21, found the net in that game but the star of the match was Felix, who hit a hat-trick in a 4-2 win.
Felix is seen as a striker but can play across the attacking line with his form erasing fears at 5ft 9in he would be too small for the Premier League.
City’s Patrick Roberts, 22, signed a three-year deal with the Etihad giants - then joined Norwich on a season-long loan.
Meanwhile, La Liga president Javier Tebas has hit back at Khaldoon Al Mubarak and rubbished insinuations he is racist.
City’s chairman had suggested there was a racially motivated agenda against Gulf-owned clubs.
But Tebas replied: "I am not at all racist. How can I be racist if two of my grandchildren are Arab?
"That just shows the ignorance and how easy it is to say things without knowing all the details."
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