German publishing firm Bauer is understood to be working on the new magazine, codenamed Project Sue, and has recruited Simon Geller, former editor of Men's Health, to lead the initiative.
The launch is understood to be one of several that the publisher of women's weeklies Take a Break and Bella has under development.
News of a third entrant into the fiercely competitive market, where entry means an investment of at least £10m, comes as it emerged this week that the gap between the market's current occupants, Zoo and Nuts, is narrowing.
Estimates for Emap's Zoo put its sales around the 160,000 level, although advertising and price promotions are believed to be edging this near to the 200,000 mark, while IPC's Nuts is slightly above 250,000 an issue.
A third entrant could speed up a worrying trend of cannibalisation. It has already been noted that sales of monthly lads' magazines have been drastically hit by the launch of the weeklies, with some issues down 20% on last year. A third weekly could really start to hurt the likes of FHM, Maxim and Loaded.
Euro 2004 is considered a major pull for both titles, with Zoo announcing last week that it is to shift its issue date so that it can cover England games. Zoo has also sent hundreds of glamour models to Portugal to distract fans away from hooliganism as part of a publicity drive surrounding the tournament.
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