Man United and Man City are set to go head-to-head for the signature of Benfica’s 19-year-old wonderkid Joao Felix, according to the Sun.
He’s turned heads this season with 10 goals in 18 games and that’s seen some of the biggest clubs in Europe monitoring his progress.
Juventus and Real Madrid are also after Felix.
The Sun report claims that Man City’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain, visted Benfica for their game against Dinamo Zagreb in March.
He was there to make a personal check on Felix, a player City manager Pep Guardiola sees as future star, but both Manchester clubs have had scouts in attendance.
OPINION
Just when you think the excesses of football can’t surprise you any more… £100million for a 19-year-old is a huge sum of money and while Felix is obviously a huge talent, you need to absolutely certain he’s going to carry on progressing to spend that sort of money on a youngster. It seems crazy that Man City would see Jadon Sancho for £7million and then consider spending over 14 times that on another young talent, but such is modern football. And then there’s the possibility that Man City could be banned from making transfers for two windows, which would give United a massive advantage. Felix is under contract until 2023 and Benfica might well think this is the perfect time to sell the player to command the biggest fee, but we still can’t see the deal reaching the £100million point. Saying, that, we would love to see Felix in the Premier League, although the thought of him adding to City’s riches must fill other teams with dread.