Pep Guardiola plans to sign Argentinian left back Valentin Barco for Manchester City - and send him on loan to his pal Enzo Maresca at Leicester City.
Guardiola’s transfer team are closing on a deal for the superb Boca Juniors defender and are ahead of Brighton in the chase to bring him to the Premier League.
However the Manchester City boss’s idea is to farm out Barco to old coaching sidekick Maresca once they sign him because they think he needs the experience.
It could be a massive boost for Leicester as they push on for promotion if City can do the deal in January.
But even if Barco is delayed until next season Guardiola is still keen to send him to the Leicester ‘finishing school’ before he uses him at the Etihad.
Barco has a fixed fee of around £10 million but extra costs take the transfer worth up to £13 million.
However Guardiola is keen to land the player who has shone at club level and was a stand out in the recent Copa Libertadores final.
Brighton hoped to win the chase after making the first serious bid for Barco but even they now fear they only have a 25 per cent chance
