Manchester City have been offered encouragement in their pursuit of Palermo star Javier Pastore.
The Argentinian is believed to be valued at £40million by his Italian club, but reports have suggested that City, financed by billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour, are still considering making an offer in January.
A winter move may not materialise, however, City will be monitoring the situation after Palermo vice-president Guglielmo Micciche admitted that he is only certain of keeping Pastore for another 12 months.
Micciche told Sky Italia: "I would enjoy Pastore at Palermo this season, but certainly in football there are deals that are tough to ignore.
"But Javier will certainly play this year with us. In the coming years, we'll see."
