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Manchester City are willing to buy Portugal wonderkid Joao Felix and loan him back to Benfica next season in a bid to help them win the race to sign the £105million-rated striker.

They are battling Manchester United and Atletico Madrid for the 19-year-old international.

And Atletico believe they have taken a huge step towards sealing a deal by giving Felix assurances he will get regular first-team football if he moves to Spain.

But Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira revealed last week that Felix has been offered £105,000-a-week to join a Premier League club.

He also hinted the Lisbon club were hoping to broker an agreement that would see Felix stay in Portugal for another year.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

And Mirror Sport understands Pep Guardiola’s plans for the next campaign do not include adding another forward to his squad.

Guardiola is happy to defend the domestic Treble with Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus leading his attack, and Raheem Sterling available to play as a central striker if required.

Aguero has just celebrated his 31st birthday – and City will need to find a replacement for him in the next two years.

They are hoping their willingness to allow Felix to remain with Benfica for another 12 months will give them the edge in negotiations.

(Image: FERNANDO VELUDO/EPA-EFE/REX)

The Premier League champions believe the youngster has the talent to eventually become one of the best players in the world.

But they do not want to pay the £105m release clause in Felix’s contract for potential and the loan-back deal they propose would enable them to negotiate a better price.

City are also increasingly confident of keeping Leroy Sane at the Etihad. Bayern Munich are still to make an offer for the German winger after discovering City will not consider selling for less than £100m.

Sane still has two years left on his contract and negotiations over a new deal are yet to bring a breakthrough.

But City believe the German champions are starting to back off in the hope Sane will run down his contract another 12 months to lower his valuation.

City, however, have been given no indication during talks with Sane that he would prefer to leave the Etihad than sign a fresh deal.