MANCHESTER CITY are ready to spark a bidding war for Jordan Pickford by tabling a formal offer for the Sunderland goalkeeper within days of the end of the season.

City boss Pep Guardiola held face-to-face talks with his club’s owner, Sheikh Mansour, in Abu Dhabi at the end of last month, and was assured his job is safe even if he does not deliver any silverware this season.

Guardiola was also promised he would receive significant backing in the transfer market this summer, and having accepted a need to radically overhaul his squad, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss is determined to complete the vast majority of his summer business before the start of pre-season training.

One of his key priorities will be the purchase of at least one new goalkeeper, and Pickford currently tops his list of Premier League-based targets.

With Joe Hart and Claudio Bravo both set to leave the Etihad Stadium on a permanent basis this summer, Guardiola could find himself in the market for two shot-stoppers, but with Bravo having struggled to adapt to life in England, he is adamant he wants at least one of his new recruits to boast Premier League experience.

Pickford ticks that box, having established himself as Sunderland’s number one goalkeeper this season, and Guardiola is understood to regard the 23-year-old as one of the most promising young talents in Europe.

The City boss will not have things his own way if he lodges a formal offer for the North-Easterner, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham also having been linked with possible moves in the last few months.

However, he will attempt to steal a march on his rivals by contacting Sunderland officials before the summer transfer window officially opens.

David Moyes has accepted it will be extremely difficult to hold on to Pickford no matter what division the Black Cats are playing in next season. In the event of relegation, Pickford will be allowed to leave to further his career and bring in some much-needed revenue to help cover the shortfall in income that would accompany the drop to the second tier.

Even if Sunderland were to survive this season, however, Moyes’ desire to overhaul his own squad would make selling Pickford an attractive option given Ellis Short’s ongoing reluctance to incur further debts.

Moyes is already planning for the future, with Friday’s trip to Hibernian’s Championship game with Dundee United enabling him to scout striker Jason Cummings, midfielder John McGinn and defender Efe Ambrose at first hand. Sunderland also sent a senior scouting delegation to Greece last week to watch Besiktas midfielder Tolgay Arslan in action against Olympiacos.

Meanwhile, Sunderland’s away game at Arsenal will have to be rearranged after the Gunners reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. The Black Cats were due to visit the Emirates on April 22, but Arsenal will now be playing in the last four of the FA Cup on the same weekend.

Sunderland now have two of their remaining 11 matches without a set date, as their trip to Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium is still to be rescheduled after it was unable to take place last Saturday because of Boro’s FA Cup tie with Manchester City.