Stoke City are stepping up their interest in Fabian Delph by tabling a £12m bid for the midfielder.
According to a report in The Telegraph Mark Hughes wants to press ahead with a deal to link Delph up with Darren Fletcher who joined from West Brom on a free transfer.
Newcastle have been linked with a move for Delph who has the experience that Rafa Benitez is looking for in the middle of the park.
After slowly falling out of favour at City Delph is ready to walk away from a lucrative contract that runs until 2020.
While at Aston Villa the midfielder had worked his way into the England squad, at 27 years of age he still has ambitions to get back into the international set up.
City are happy to allow Delph to move on with Pep Guardiola moving closer to fielding a team consisting almost solely of his own signings for the start of next season.
