Manchester City are in advanced negotiations to sign Jo, the Brazil forward, from CSKA Moscow in a deal that could cost them up to £20million. Sources in Moscow indicated last night that City had made a firm approach to the Russian club, with Thaksin Shinawatra, the chairman, preparing to sanction a deal that would break their transfer record.

City inquired about Jo during the January transfer window and, having been told then that he was not for sale, they have maintained their interest. Representatives of City are understood to have made an offer in the region of £20million to CSKA, whose president, Yevgeny Giner, is expected to accept the bid.

City are also reported to have held talks with Giuliano Bertolucci, Jo's agent who is eager to negotiate the 21-year-old's departure from Moscow.

Valencia also expressed an interest in January, while scouts from Arsenal were said to have watched the player, but City are favourites to sign him.

The deal would be a significant increase on their existing transfer record - the £13million fee that was paid to Paris Saint-Germain for Nicolas Anelka in June 2002 - but it appears that Shinawatra is ready to sanction the move despite the lingering uncertainty over the future of Sven-Göran Eriksson, the manager.

Shinawatra has expressed dissatisfaction with the team's progress in recent weeks and is known to have been pondering the idea of looking for a new man to replace the former England head coach. There is confidence that, with City officials and even some of his own advisers urging him to keep faith with Eriksson, the former Prime Minister of Thailand may abandon the search for a new manager, but it is not clear whether the deal for Jo has been driven by the chairman, the manager or both.

The capture of Jo, 21, would certainly represent an impressive statement of intent from City as they look to build on the progress that was made in the first half of their first campaign under Eriksson.

They have spent heavily on several strikers this season - Rolando Bianchi, who has since returned to Lazio on loan, Valeri Bojinov, Benjani Mwaruwari and Felipe Caicedo - with little return to date, but Jo, a muscular, athletic forward, has an impressive reputation.

The one thing that he does not have is an abundance of Brazil caps - one so far - which means that he might not automatically be granted a work permit by the Home Office, but an appeal is likely to prove successful.