MANCHESTER City are in talks with Benfica with a view to signing �30miliion rated Brazilia Ramires, according to reports.

City have seemingly hit a brick wall in their pursuit of Aston Villa winger James Milner, and therefore have turned attention towards midfielder Ramires.

Boss Roberto Mancini is keen to sign the 23-year-old following his impressive form for Brazil in South Africa, where he featured in four of their games, although the Italian is yet to give up on England international Milner.

There has reportedly been communication between Ramires’ agent, Giuliano Bertolucci, regarding a possible switch. And although Ramiers has a �30m buy-out clause in his contract, City are hopeful of landing the player for a reduced fee of around �22m.

Meanwhile, the Eastlands club are confident of clinching the signing of Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli, believing they have struck a �23million deal for the 19-year-old who will be re-united with former manager Mancini.

However, they have failed to capture Barcelona’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with his agent saying he wants to stay at the Camp Nou and prove his worth.