City have been angered by Monaco’s approach and manager Kevin Keegan is adamant they will not allow their most high-profile player to be loaned out.

Keegan would not want to even consider putting Anelka up for sale after the team only narrowly avoided relegation last season and will seek to dissuade him from exiting.

However, if Anelka was determined to leave, City would believe they could command a fee in excess of £10m (€14.8m) – which is far beyond Monaco’s reach.

Instead, the French league club are looking to engineer a loan move – which City are set to repel.

Monaco sporting director Henri Biancheri told The Guardian: “He’s the absolute priority for (the coach) Didier Deschamps, for me and for the club.

“We believe it’s Nicolas’ wish to come to Monaco but the problem is that we can only organise a loan and Manchester City would want a permanent transfer.

“But Nicolas wants to play in a team that will be challenging for the title and he will have a chance of being in the France national team.”