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City could launch a new team in America within four weeks.

In a sensational move that is expected to cost upwards of £300m the Blues’ Abu Dhabi owners are on the verge of creating the New York City Football Club – which would kick off the 2016 Major League Soccer season in the Big Apple.

An M.E.N. Sport source in the US confirmed that City’s chiefs are frontrunners to pull off a sensational $100m (£64.7m) swoop for a new franchise that is up for grabs.

They are also hoping to obtain planning permission for a $340m (£220m), 25,000-capacity stadium at Corona Park in Flushing Meadows, Queens, within the next three weeks. And, according to reports in New York, MLS officials will announce the stunning news before City take on Chelsea at the iconic Yankee Stadium on May 25.

Last night Blues officials declined to comment.

But, as with deals in the transfer market, the club’s owners observe a strict protocol in which nothing is announced until business has been concluded.

An MLS spokesman told M.E.N. Sport that they were in advanced talks about a New York expansion but added that nothing had been agreed.

He said: “While we are making progress on the New York expansion team, we have not finalised the ownership agreement.

“Our discussions with potential ownership groups remain private.” A report in the New York Times claimed that the only stumbling block to the move was opposition from local residents.

But they added that Mayor Michael Bloomberg is keen to push the project through before he leaves office at the end of the year.

The paper also stated that talks have opened between City officials and New York Mets baseball club, who play close to where the stadium is planned, that would see the Blues use their car park.

They added that the

facility may be expanded to seat 35,000 and that City owner Sheikh Mansour hoped to break ground within 12 months.

If the move gets the green light one of City’s first tasks will be to find a high-calibre manager capable of building a winning team from scratch.

The city is already home to the New York Red Bulls.­