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Manchester City are close to agreeing a deal to sign Dario Sarmiento, who has been described as a “mini-Messi”.
The 17-year old is currently on the books of Argentine side Estudiantes, but will move to City when he turns 18 in March.
Capped six times at under-16 level by Argentina, City are set to pay £17 million for Sarmiento’s services, although they are buying him more for his potential, because he has only played a handful of games. Nevertheless, he is highly rated in South America, where many are tipping him for a brilliant future career.
City fans are still hopeful of signing the real thing at the end of the season, with Messi out of contract with Barcelona in the summer.
However, currently PSG are emerging as favourites to sign the Argentine playmaker, with reports that he has already informed former teammate Neymar that he intends to join him in Paris.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.