Manchester City are close to reaching an agreement with Aston Villa for Jack Grealish.
Pep Guardiola had made Grealish a key target along with Harry Kane, and now City are ready to pay around £100 million ($139m) for the midfielder. The deal would be a British record if it goes through, eclipsing the £89.3m ($124m) Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba in 2016.
City have so far declined to comment, but sources said a fee has yet to be agreed between the Premier League champions and Villa.
Guardiola and director of football Txiki Begiristain are admirers and interest in Grealish has been growing for more than a year.
Grealish, 25, is preparing for England’s European Championship round-of-16 clash with Germany, and his move to City is expected to progress once his involvement in the tournament is over. The final is scheduled to be held at Wembley on July 11.
Grealish has made 213 appearances for Aston Villa, scoring 32 goals, since making his senior debut for his boyhood club in 2014. He has won nine caps for England and started the 1-0 win over Czech Republic on Tuesday.
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