Manchester City are set to hold talks with Nigerian starlet Macauley Chrisantus next week.
The 17-year-old striker was one of the stars of the recent World Under 17 championship as he helped Nigeria seal the title.
Christantus is currently plying his trade in his homeland with Abuja but a move to England could soon be sealed.
The youngster's agent, Adam Mohammed, confirmed that he and the player are set to hold talks with Sven Goran Eriksson.
"I can confirm Sven has written inviting myself and the boy for a discussion and we will be in England next week to conclude talks," he told the News of the World.
Mohammed admitted that an application for a work permit could be a stumbling block, but he voiced his optimism that one would be granted second time round.
"But there may be a snag with the issue of a work permit," he added.
"However, if it is refused first time we will get it second time if the club appeals."
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Ajax, Internazionale and Milan are also reportedly keen to snap up the youngster, but it appears that City have won the race to secure Chrisantus' services.
Meanwhile, Eriksson has called on striker Georgios Samaras to utilise his strengths, which he believes are his ability to be a powerful target man.
"Georgios has to decide what type of players he wants to be. He shouldn't be doing lots of tricks; he should be using his physical power. For me he is a central striker - and a good one," Eriksson told the News of the World.
"There is a big difference between the Samaras that I see now and the one I saw when I arrived in July. He could have gone in the summer but said he wanted to fight for his place and I'm happy that he did."
25 09 2007
Manchester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson has reassured Georgios Samaras that he has a future at Eastlands, especially if he repeats his matchwinning performance from tonight's Carling Cup clash with Norwich.
The Greek striker had seemed to be heading for the exit door after Eriksson took over, but having been given a chance in the cup the former Heerenveen frontman made the most of the opportunity and netted late on in the tie to send City through 1-0.
"Georgios has a contract here and he has a future here," said Eriksson.
"If he carries on playing like that, I will use him. The goal is fantastic for his confidence and I am really pleased for him because he has not been playing for us."
Eriksson added: "He told me at the end of August that he wanted to stay and fight for his place, which is exactly what he has done. He has never complained and never done anything stupid in training. He has always worked hard and been extremely positive. I heard there were clubs in Spain, Portugal and England who inquired but I don't know if they were really good offers or not. I did speak to some players when I came here and told them I couldn't give them much football. One of them was Georgios. I told him if he found a club willing to discuss things with us that would be okay but he likes the Premier League and he wanted to stay."
