Gabriel Jesus is in line for a significant pay hike at Manchester City once the club have wrapped up new deals for David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne.

Silva is in talks to extend his contract at City by a further 12 months to June 2020 while fellow midfielder De Bruyne is expected to almost double his existing £6 million-a-year salary once formal negotiations over a new deal begin in the coming weeks.

But City are also ready to open talks with Jesus’s representatives in order to dramatically boost the Brazil striker’s current wages – thought to be around £70,000 a week – in recognition of an outstanding first nine months at the club and to ward off any potential suitors.

Jesus, 20, agreed to join City from Palmeiras last summer but he did not arrive until January, since when a record of 12 goals in 15 starts and the extraordinary subsequent inflation in the transfer market has made his £27 million fee look like a bargain.