The Premier League is to block Manchester City’s bid to sign 21 year-old Brazilian forward Jo from Russian side CSKA Moscow, due to a new third-party ownership issue strikingly reminiscent to the case involving Argentine players Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

Jo, full name Joao Alves de Silva, was thought to be on his way to Manchester City for £18million, having scored 30 goals in 52 appearances for the Russian side.

The concerns raised by the Premier League, are that Jo is owned by the same company MSI, who also held the registration for Tevez and Mascherano, when they arrived at West Ham United on loan in 2006, according to The Sun newspaper.

Jo who has one cap for Brazil played for the same Brazilian team Corinthians as Tevez, who now plays for Manchester United and Mascherano now at Liverpool. Kia Joorabchian of MSI is also involved in the Jo deal, Joorabchian was at the centre of the whole ownership issue surrounding the Argentine pair.

Spokesman for the Premier League Dan Johnson said: “We are aware of the situation with Jo and the rules are very clear.

"At the Premier League AGM held two weeks ago it was agreed that third-party ownership of any player will not be allowed.

“While that situation is common in countries like Spain and Portugal, we agreed that it is not tolerable here.

“We want to ensure no one can accuse us of compromising the integrity of the competition so we have stated that third-party ownership is illegal.

“We believe this is in the best interests of the Premier League and our clubs and we think we are economically strong enough to impose it.”

So in order for Manchester City to sign Jo, they would need to prove they own the player’s registration to avoid a repeat of the circus that the Tevez and Mascherano affair became.