Arsenal are leading the race to sign Raheem Sterling in a deal that could see Harry Kane’s move to Manchester City scuppered.
The England winger, 26, has slipped down the pecking order under Pep Guardiola thanks to the emergence of superstar in the making Phil Foden.
With Sergio Aguero joining Barcelona on a free transfer, Guardiola is itching to sign a new star striker to help his side finally win the Champions League – having lost the 2020-21 final at the hands of Chelsea.
City are desperate to sign £150million-rated Tottenham forward Kane.
And Guardiola is willing to offer both Sterling AND Gabriel Jesus – plus cash – to tempt Daniel Levy into accepting.
Despite Aguero’s departure after a decade of service, Jesus is still not seen as the man to lead City’s charge moving forward.
read also:Man Utd star Lingard ‘set to miss out on England’s Euro squad’
And the promise of first-team football at Spurs could be enough to convince him to move to the capital.
Jesus’ £90,000-a-week wages won’t pose a problem to Tottenham, either – even with a pay increase.
But Sterling’s £300,000 weekly pay-packet could prove too costly for Levy.
And the deal could crumble with Arsenal leading the race to sign the former Liverpool winger.
Londoner Sterling nearly signed for the Gunners in the summer of 2010 while on the books of QPR’s youth team.
The Three Lions forward instead joined Liverpool in a £600,000 deal.
But Sterling could now finally move to the Emirates, with Mikel Arteta keen on him.
Arsenal would be more willing to splash out on Sterling’s wages, already paying Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang well over £300,000 per week, while previously paying Mesut Ozil £350,000 weekly.
Sterling joined Man City from Liverpool in a £44m deal in the summer of 2015 and still has two years to run on his current deal.
The winger scored 15 goals in all competitions this season, but increasingly saw his game-time limited thanks to England team-mate Foden’s emergence.