City hunt £12m Walcott
City boss Roberto Mancini has targeted the England flier after Swansea blocked his bid for Scott Sinclair.
Walcott, 23, is in the final year of his contract and has been linked with a move to Liverpool.
But Mancini is desperate to sign a wideman before the transfer window shuts on Friday after losing Adam Johnson to Sunderland last week.
The champions are hoping they can turn the screw on Arsenal over Walcott like Manchester United did with £22m Robin van Persie.
Walcott, who has scored 26 goals in 151 League appearances for the Gunners, was dropped to the bench for Sundays draw at Stoke.
He was signed for £5m from Southampton in 2006.
City finally ran out of patience with Swansea yesterday after the Welsh club rejected a £6.2m offer for Sinclair.
Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins said: It has been dragging on a while and Id have thought if they really wanted to sign Scott they would have dealt with it a bit better than they have but thats their business.
