Report: Man City Readies £22m Bid for Sporting Rising Star Rafael Leao

Manchester City are reportedly ready to table a bid around £22m for the Sporting Lisbon prospect Rafael Leao.

Manchester City are reportedly ready to table a bid around £22m for the Sporting Lisbon prospect Rafael Leao. 

Chelsea are also interested in signing the 18-year old but according to The Sun, City are hoping to steal a march on their rivals. 

Leao is already a Portugal U21 international and has broken into the Sporting Lisbon first team. He made his debut during Sunday's 2-0 win over Feirense, a result which took Sporting up to 3rd in the table, just two points behind league leaders Porto. 

Interest from a number of Europe's top clubs persuaded Sporting to offer Leao a new contract which runs through until 2022 but there is a release clause of £53m, which Manchester City's reported bid falls well short of. 

Sporting's manager Jorge Jesus is determined to keep such a promising young talent at the club. 

He said: "He is a disconcerting player, powerful one-on-one. We will work step-by-step with Leao, who is one of the great talents our academy has." 

Manchester City could potentially be the perfect destination for Leao with Pep Guardiola using a number of young players in his squad that is storming towards the Premier League title. 

Phil Foden, 17, has been a regular in the matchday squad this season and has made Premier League appearances from the bench as has 18-year old Brahim Diaz, who has also featured in the Champions League. 

Whether City will be able to prise Leao away from Portugal is something that will need to be watched in the coming months.