According to Sky Sports, City manager Roberto Mancini has made a move for Aston Villa midfielder James Milner.
The current PFA Young Player of the Year had an outstanding season for Villa and has widely been tipped to move from the Midlands in the summer, with City and Chelsea both in the hunt for his services.
Milner has been called up into the provisional England squad for this summer’s World Cup finals and has been tipped to make Fabio Capello’s final squad. However, the England manager has decreed that none of his players will negotiate transfers while on World Cup duty, hence the speed of City’s apparent move.
Villa are yet to respond to City’s bid, which is believed to be around the £20m mark, but the blues will be confident of landing the midfielder following the surprise capture of Milner’s former team-mate Gareth Barry 12 months ago.