Manchester City could beat Real Madrid to the signing of Kylian Mbappe by pouncing for the France hotshot before his Paris Saint-Germain contract expires at the end of the season.
Sheikh Mansour, the owner of the reigning Premier League champions, has issued a 'mandate' to make prolific Mbappe the club's newest striker 'at any cost', according to transfer gurus.
Mega-wealthy Mansour has ordered a move for Mbappe that could be completed as early as the January transfer window, the Transfer Window has reported.
Real Madrid are desperate to sign World Cup winner Mbappe, failing with two bids before the summer transfer window closed on August 31.
The Liga giants confirmed to Sportsmail that they had a second offer of €170m (£145m) plus €10m (£9m) emphatically rejected by PSG, who stand to lose the man they signed on a permanent basis for £166m in 2018 for nothing next summer.
Los Blancos had also tabled an initial bid of £137m for the 22-year-old shortly before the closure of the transfer window.
City were linked with Tottenham talisman Harry Kane throughout the summer but were strongly rumoured to have been unwilling to meet Spurs' £150m asking price for the England captain.
Boss Pep Guardiola could swoop for Mbappe in a cut-price deal in the next transfer window, which runs throughout January.
Guardiola insisted before the end of the summer transfer window that he was happy with his squad regardless of their success in capturing Kane, although City are operating without an out-and-out striker in the absence of a direct replacement for club record goalscorer Sergio Aguero.
Despite hitting six against RB Leipzig in their Champions League opener, City have only scored more than once in two of their Premier League matches this season.
Mbappe is thought to consider Madrid his first choice, with City one of the few clubs in the world who could provide the prodigy with greater financial incentives than the 13-time Champions League winners.