Manchester City reportedly remain confident of reaching an agreement to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Matheus Nunes.
The Premier League and Champions League winners have already fallen short with one offer for the Portugal international, as Wolves rebuffed their opening £47m proposal.
Gary O'Neil confirmed that his side had turned down an approach from an unnamed club for Nunes last week, as the club felt that the offer did not match their valuation of the ex-Sporting Lisbon man.
"He's an important player for us who has four or five years left on his contract, but we rejected a bid because we didn't feel it met our valuation of what Matheus is worth to us," O'Neil told reporters before Saturday's 1-0 win over Everton, which Nunes missed through suspension.
"I don't know the details of the bid and where it's at, but all I know is that our valuation of Matheus wasn't met. I'm head coach. I coach the team and the players who are available, and Matheus isn't available this weekend."
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With Nunes under contract at Wolves until the summer of 2027 with the option of an additional 12 months, the West Midlands outfit have supposedly slapped a £60m price tag onto the head of the 25-year-old, who joined in a £38.5m switch last year.
However, Man City are believed to be lining up a second bid for Nunes, and Football Insider claims that the Citizens remain optimistic about their chances of striking a deal.
The report adds that City's revised bid will likely come close to the £60m mark, which would represent a club-record sale for Wolves, and Pep Guardiola's side expect that offer to be accepted.
Despite already adding Mateo Kovacic to their midfield ranks from Chelsea, the treble winners have sought to bolster their midfield ranks further after news of Kevin De Bruyne's serious hamstring injury.
Furthermore, John Stones - who excelled in an inverted role during the 2022-23 season - is nursing a thigh problem and will not be back in action until after the international break either.
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The Citizens were initially prioritising a big-money move for West Ham United's Lucas Paqueta, only to drop their interest after the FA opened an investigation into alleged betting breaches by the Brazilian.
Jeremy Doku has been added to Man City's attacking ranks, while Bernardo Silva has also extended his contract until 2026, but Guardiola is still eyeing another central reinforcement ahead of Friday's deadline.
After making a name for himself at Sporting, Nunes apparently caught the eye of Liverpool, but the Reds opted not to splash the cash on a big-money midfielder in 2022, allowing Wolves to strike a deal for the 25-year-old.
Nunes immediately nailed down a starting spot in the Wolves XI, but he only managed one goal and one assist from 39 games in his debut season and starting just one match for Portugal at the 2022 World Cup.
Ben Knapton
