Manchester City are preparing to outmuscle Manchester United in the race to sign Inter Milan centre-back Milan Skriniar, according to reports in Italy.
The 24-year-old has still to sign a new deal at the San Siro and City are said to be keen on smashing their transfer record for the Slovakia international.
United were reportedly interested in taking Skriniar to Old Trafford when Jose Mourinho was in charge but a move failed to materialise. The Reds remain in the hunt for a world-class centre-back to bolster their defensive options, with reports on Thursday suggesting that Leicester's Harry Maguire was on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's radar in a deal worth £65 million.
Calciomercato claim that City are prepared to meet the €100 million (£85.5m) demand for Skriniar's services, as centre-backs Vincent Kompany and Nicolás Otamendi near the end of their Etihad careers.
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Kompany, 32, has still to agree a one-year extension to his City stay while Otamendi, 31, has struggled to hold down a regular berth in Pep Guardiola's first team this season.
Skriniar's agent, Mital Halis, claimed earlier this week that City saw a bid for his client rejected by Inter last summer.
“Inter Milan paid Sampdoria €28m (£24m) for Skriniar and six months later, Manchester City came in with an offer of €55m (£46m),” he told AS .
“Now he is valued at around €100m (£87m).
“Any deal would certainly be complicated by the interference of intermediaries.”
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