Manchester City will see off competition from Real Madrid for Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra.

The Mail on Sunday says City boss Mark Hughes will make Portsmouth's £20million midfielder Diarra his first signing of the new window.

Portsmouth will only sell Diarra to City because Real Madrid can't match the asking price. Pompey boss Tony Adams already has a £6million holding midfielder lined up to replace him and knows selling Diarra will mean he can keep other prize assets Jermaine Defoe, Glenn Johnson and Peter Crouch at Fratton Park.