Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is pushing for a move to Premier League champions Manchester City.
Rumours have been swirling over the Portugal captain's future this summer and came to a head when he reportedly asked to be benched for Juve's Serie A opener against Udinese on Sunday - a claim Biaconeri boss Massimilliano Allegri denied.
However, L'Equipe report that Ronaldo has his sights set on a move to the Etihad Stadium and even believes a deal could be done 'by the weekend'. The decision is motivated by his pursuit of more Ballons d'Or to add to the five in his collection, and his agent Jorge Mendes is confident he can make it happen.
The French outlet claim the 36-year-old has gone to the extent of contacting his compatriots in the City squad - namely Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo - to engineer a move, while there are a number of players who could be used as makeweights in any deal, including Silva and Aymeric Laporte.
Much will depend on Man City's protracted pursuit of Tottenham striker Harry Kane.
To this point the club had been solely focused on a blockbuster move for the Spurs talisman, but with Daniel Levy not even entertaining any bids below £150m, the Citizens may be forced to look elsewhere.
City are one of few clubs who could afford a deal for Ronaldo at such a late stage of the transfer window, but negotiations would still likely be very complex. They are said to be willing to meet his €31m per year salary, but do not want to pay a fee over the odds for a player who has entered the final 12 months of his contract in Turin.
That is where the possibility of a part-exchange deal comes into play, with super-agent Mendes working on an agreement that would see Silva - another of his clients - move the other way. Laporte could also be included, with his attitude becoming something of an issue at the Etihad.
Source : 90min