Manchester City to sign Partizan Belgrade winger Stevanovic in £6m deal

Teenage winger Filip Stevanovic will move to Manchester City from Partizan Belgrade in the January transfer window for a fee of £6 million (€6.5m/$8m).

The 18-year-old wide player has been linked with clubs across Europe since emerging for the Serbian side, but the Premier League outfit have won the race and will complete the deal for Stevanovic when the next transfer window opens in 2021.

Whether Stevanovic remains with City for the second half of this season remains to be seen, with a return to Partizan on loan or a temporary move elsewhere both likely options.

Manchester United, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Inter were the standouts from some 15 clubs who were keen on a deal.

City, however, have signed Stevanovic for a reduced fee, given the interest in his services, as a result of the economic pressure of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have had an offer on the table for Filip Stevanovic for six months now, which is over €10 million (£9m/$11m)," Partizan coach Savo Milosevic told TV Happy in April.

"Now the deal will be much more complicated, but if the team can pick up from where we left off [before the Covid-19 shutdown] and he plays the way he did in the autumn, then I am sure that the price will return quickly."

Stevanovic contributed nine goals and three assists in 35 matches in all competitions for Partizan in 2019-20, and has scored three and provided two more in 11 games so far in 2020-21.

He joined Partizan at the age of nine after taking his first footballing steps with hometown club Vranic Arilje, and Stevanovic has spent the last decade making his way through the club's age-group sides.

Due to his ability and willingness to play both as a winger and as a central forward, he has been likened to Cristiano Ronaldo in his native Serbia. Stevanovic, though, has another player that he regards as his footballing idol.

"He [Ronaldo] is not among my favourites, but he is my role model when it comes to work and goals," he told Mondo. "I don't like to praise myself, because I think others should do it, but I like dribbling the most. Dribbling is perhaps my best characteristic as a footballer. Cristiano is great, but he is not a dribbler.

"Ronaldinho, though, was magical and special. Of course, I wouldn't mind being like [Lionel] Messi or Neymar, but Ronaldinho had some magic. He had incredible control of the ball, and could do things that no one else could - that no one even thought of."