Report: Manchester City target close to signing new contract with Borussia Dortmund

Julian Weigl is quickly becoming one of the top young midfielders in football, and the Borussia Dortmund player is attracting interest from the world's best coach.

Pep Guardiola has been a fan of the 21-year-old since the start of last season, when Weigl broke into the scene in Germany. Signed by Dortmund for only £2 million, Weigl impressed coach Thomas Tuchel and made 51 appearances in his debut campaign with BVB, which earned him a call to the German squad for EURO 2016.

Weigl has stepped up his level of performances this season, and this week he scored his first goal for the club, a beautiful strike in Dortmund's Champions League win over Sporting in Portugal. Guardiola sees Weigl as a very similar player to Sergio Busquets, who became a star holding midfielder during Pep's time at Barcelona. Julian does play that same position and is looking like a great player already, and Guardiola is ready to offer as much as £25 million to try and sign him next summer.

But that won't be easy, since Dortmund are aware of City's interest and are planning a contract extension for the kid, as Dortmund's sporting director revealed a few weeks ago:

"We have the wish to tie him to a long-term contract. But we are not pressed for time because he feels extremely comfortable here."

Michael Zorc, source: The Sun

Even though Zorc said there was no rush, Weigl's latest performances have clearly forced him to change his mind, and reports in Germany now say that Weigl will sign a deal in the next few weeks to stay at the club until 2022, earning himself a massive increase in salary and an even bigger rise of his buyout clause, which will be set at £80 million and will force Manchester City to make a giant offer to lure him away from the Westfalenstadion.

City can pay that, though, especially if Guardiola asks.