Manchester City are ready to make a £20 million offer for Inter Milan fullback Douglas Maicon. The Sun says the January move is designed to blow rivals Manchester United's interest out of the water.
Boss Mark Hughes has up to £100m to spend when the transfer window reopens, but feels his team now needs only a little fine tuning.
And Inter Milan's Maicon is on the hit-list, as Hughes eyes the minimum of a Champions League slot next season.
Maicon, 28, is rated one of the world's best full-backs and has started all but three of Brazil's 17 World Cup qualifiers.
His agent, Antonio Caliendo, revealed United were big admirers and that did not go unnoticed by City, who will be happy to meet the player's £90,000-a-week pay demand.
