It’s now official; City’s stalking of Eliaquim Mangala has been confirmed with the club announcing today that he has signed for an undisclosed amount from Porto.
Unofficially the amount, which has been bandied around for most of the summer, is £32m with a five-year contract signed by the 23-year-old.
In order to continue his progression as a footballer the defender felt he had to leave Porto with City as ambitious as he is, having Sagna, Clichy and Nasri already at the club will help the French international settle in too.
Mangala told the official website: ‘City is a top club in Europe. For me, it was an important step to leave Porto and join Manchester City in order to continue my progress. I want to win titles and I believe I can do this. I am ambitious and this is why I am here.
‘I’m very happy to come to England because for me, the Premier League is the best league in the world. It is a very intense and very aggressive competition. There are plenty of goals, so it is also really nice to watch and I can`t wait to get started!’
Having former teammate Fernando, who also came to the Etihad this summer, will also be handy for the man who will wear no.20 this season.
Manuel Pellegrini feels that Mangala is already one of the best players around but feels that he ticks all the boxes to become the best European defenders around, which will certainly help us as defensively we’ve struggled at times.
The boss added: ‘I’m delighted to have added a player of Eliaquim’s quality in the squad ahead of the new season.
‘He is already a fine player but in my opinion, he has all of the mental, physical, technical and tactical attributes to become one of Europe’s very best defenders.
‘Eliaquim is a player I believe will make an immediate impact in the Premier League, thanks to his physicality, his reading of the game and quality on the ball.
‘I think he will prove to be a great signing for us.’
If he can live up to half the expectation of him then I’m certain he will be a great signing!
He joins Willy Caballero, Fernando, Frank Lampard, Bacary Sagna and Bruno Zuculini in signing for City this summer, with him almost certain to be the last arrival before the season gets underway, probably before the transfer window closes?
Another exit or two might not be so unlikely though….
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