Manchester City may be eyeing Robin van Persie, but they are also poised to steal a march on the rest of Europe by landing Argentine wonderkid Paulo Dybala.
The 18-year-old striker, who plays for Instituto in Argentina's second tier, has been tracked by both Milan clubs and Real Madrid, while Chelsea have also monitored him.
Another Italian side, Palermo, claimed they had struck a deal with Cordoba-based Instituto - the first club of both Osvaldo Ardiles and his 1978 World Cup-winning team-mate Mario Kempes - in April, with president Maurizio Zamparini hailing the arrival of "the new Sergio Aguero".
However, although Instituto are ready to cash in on the £5million-rated teenager, Palermo had been negotiating with an agent who had no mandate to sell him.
Now, City look to have edged into pole position to land Dybala, who scored 17 goals in 38 games in his first season for his home-town team.
The youngster, who had a Polish grandfather, is understood to have an Italian passport, which would mean no work permit issues for City to overcome.
The presence of fellow Argentines Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Pablo Zabaleta, and potentially Fernando Gago, as well as Spanish-speaking Yaya Toure, David Silva and others, at Eastlands already, would also ease his transition to English football.
Source : Mirror.co.uk
