Reports: Arsenal and Man City to battle over £60 million rated forward

What's the rumour?

According to multiple reports, top Premier League clubs like Arsenal and both the Manchester sides are keen on signing the next big thing in Portuguese football. That happens to be a promising Benfica B youngster João Félix.

Other reports claim that the English clubs aren't the only ones keeping tabs on the talented forward with AS Monaco, RB Salzburg, Hamburg and Borussia Munchengladbach also monitoring his situation.

In case you didn't know...

João Félix plays his football for the Portuguese side Benfica's B team.

The 18-year-old attacking footballer generally plays on the left wing but has shown his versatility by playing all across the forward-line. He is currently in red-hot form as well, with 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 matches.

Felix is dubbed the next great footballer to come from Portugal and has immense potential to carry the tag. Top clubs seem ready to bet big on the youngster with his astounding £60 million release clause not too daunting for them.

The heart of the matter

Arsenal are hoping to add some fresh blood into their side, and having missed out on a certain Portuguese a couple of decades ago, will be hoping they can get the forward this time around.

Manchester City, meanwhile, have restrained themselves from going for the big names and have opted for talented youngsters and groomed them into brilliant footballers. Pep Guardiola will be determined to add another successful mentee to his resume but will have to battle bitter rivals United and a host of other clubs before he can do that.

Rumour rating/probability 6/10

It seems unlikely that the youngster will take such a massive step-up so soon, but we've seen weirder things happen in the world of football. If the top clubs do decide to swoop in for Felix, the transfer fee will not be a major barrier for them as we've witnessed multiple times already. There is a fare chance of it happening as the drought of good strikers in England continues.

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Author's Take

The little I've seen of him is enough to tell me that, given the right circumstances, the Benfica B player can blossom into one of the finer talents in Portuguese football. Unfortunately for him though, the last guy to do that was only Cristiano Ronaldo. So whether he lives up to his potential is something that remains to be seen but with the best Premier League clubs sniffing around it wouldn't surprise me to see him arrive sooner rather than later.