According to the Daily Express, Manchester City are ready to £32m plus either Aleksandar Kolarov or Edin Džeko for Juventus wonderkid Paul Pogba. Reports in Italysuggest the midfielder's agent is currently in Turin attempting to negotiate a new contract with Juventus, but Pogba's huge wage demands have made a new deal with the Italian champions increasingly unlikely. Manchester City are ready to submit a huge bid for the 21-year-old who they see as a long term replacement for Yaya Touré and are prepared to include Aleksandar Kolarov or Edin Džeko in the deal along with an offer to write off the rest of what Juventus owe them for Carlos Tevez. The total deal would be likely to amount to £53m.
Another central midfielder who is likely to move to Manchester this summer is FC Porto's Fernando Reges. The Mirror report that Manchester City are confident of typing up a £20m deal for the 26-year-old who was close to joining the blues in the January transfer window.
(Fernando Reges, nicknamed 'The Octopus', is close to joining Manchester City according to reports)
The Daily Mail believe Arsenal full-back Bacary Sagna will open talks with Manchester City after next weekend's FA Cup Final after rejecting an £80,000 a week contract extension from his current club. The Frenchman has also been targeted by Paris Saint Germain but would prefer to stay in England.
(Bacary Sagna could provide cover for Pablo Zabaleta next season)
Football Direct News report that Joe Hart is unsure of his future at Manchester City after reports linking Inter Milan goalkeeper Samir Handanović to the club gained pace this week. The England stopper has enjoyed a promising run of form since being dropped by Manuel Pellegrini last November but the Chilean is believed to be keen on bringing in a goalkeeper to test Hart's resolve. The 29-year-old Slovenian, who has registered yet another impressive season with Inter Milan, is believed to be City's number one target to challenge Hart.
(Inter Milan's Samir Handanović has become Manchester City's latest goalkeeping target)
In Other News
In other news, Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has sparked a potential row with neighbours Manchester United after claiming their soon-to-be next boss Louis van Gaal has a habit of turning players against him. The pair worked together at Barcelona just over ten years ago and the Spaniard believes the 62-year-old's confrontational approach runs the risk of alienating players.
(Louis van Gaal's confrontational style may not suit Manchester United's players according to Soriano)
Soriano told the Daily Mail: ‘If you treat your people badly, they remember. One day you make an error and they kill you. I’ve seen this in many clubs.
‘Louis van Gaal has been a very good coach in many clubs but his style is very difficult. The same thing happened to him in Barcelona as in Bayern Munich.
‘He is very tough, people don’t like him, but he wins. And one day you don’t win — and when you don’t win, everybody that is angry with you will come back to you and try to kill you.
‘In the movies this works, in real life it doesn’t.’
And finally, Manuel Pellegrini is set to snub Roy Hodgson's wishes by taking England stars Joe Hart and James Milner to Abu Dhabi for an exhibition match at the end of the Premier League season the Express has revealed. Hodgson wrote to clubs asking them to give England's World Cup contingent a week off following the final game of the campaign but City have told their players that the trip to Abu Dhabi is compulsory.
(Joe Hart and James Milner will be made to play in City's end of season friendly against the wishes of their England boss Roy Hodgson)
