Manchester United and Liverpool have both abandoned their pursuit of Gabriel Jesus after his transfer fee was considered extortionate.
The Brazilian forward has been labelled as being a better prospect than Neymar, with both United and Liverpool monitoring his progress.
However, according to UOL Esporte, the two clubs have opted to end their interest in the striker as they have deemed the transfer fee to sign him too high.
The 19-year-old has scored eight goals in 12 appearances this season, and continues to establish himself as an exciting part of Brazilian football’s future, and he will feature at the 2016 Rio Olympics later this summer.
It doesn’t look as though he will be moving to United or Liverpool any time soon though, even though the former had the option of signing him for £18.9m rather than £31.5m with a clause in his contract.
Further, Liverpool believed that they would be up against unfair competition in the race to sign him given that they wouldn’t have the benefit of paying less like their domestic rivals.
In turn, Manchester City have now made a bid of £16.7m to land him, as reported by The Sun, as they also benefit from the reduced fee clause as Pep Guardiola looks to ramp up his summer transfer market activity.
It would be considered a major coup for the club if they did sign the in-demand striker, as a whole host of other European giants have also been paired with an interest.