Man City set to beat Man Utd to £105m Joao Felix as Portuguese whizkid wanted in transfer tussle with Real Madrid and Juventus

PEP GUARDIOLA is set to win the £105million race for Portuguese whizkid Joao Felix.

Manchester City are in a four-way scramble with neighbours Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus over Benfica’s 19-year-old attacking midfielder.

But the Etihad boss is in pole position to land Felix after City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain flew to Lisbon to watch the youngster in last week’s 3-0 Europa League win over Dinamo Zagreb last week.

Super agent Jorge Mendes was also at the Estadio da Luz that night representing Juve.

He is believed to have held initial talks over a deal with the Portuguese club’s hierarchy.

But a move to Premier League champions City is the preferred option for Felix — even though a switch to the Serie A heavyweights would allow him to link-up with fellow countryman Cristiano Ronaldo.

Felix, who has scored ten goals and added five assists in 18 league outings this season, has a whopping £105m release clause in his contract.

But City will attempt to persuade Benfica to do business by adding performance-based bonuses to their offer in the summer.

Guardiola will have Felix's form monitored during Portugal's Euro 2020 qualifiers against Ukraine on Friday and Serbia on Monday.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager has turned Portuguese star Bernardo Silva into one of the Premier League's best attacking midfielders this season, but has had injury problems with Kevin de Bruyne, while the club are looking for a long-term replacement for David Silva.