Manchester City agree to sign David Silva from Valencia for £30m

Posted Thursday, July 01, 2010 by theguardian.com

• 'I am thrilled about playing in England with Manchester City'
• Roberto Mancini: 'We are bringing the best players here'

Manchester City's position as the most powerful spenders in English football was reaffirmed today when they flexed their financial muscle to sign David Silva, the Spain midfielder, for a fee in the region of £25m-30m.

Silva has agreed a four-year contract despite initial reservations about leaving Valencia for a club that had not qualified for the Champions League. The 24-year-old is likely to be followed to Eastlands by Yaya Touré, with City confidently expecting the Barcelona holding midfielder to become the latest signing in a recruitment programme that will almost certainly see them spend more than £100m this summer.

Backed by the enormous wealth of the Abu Dhabi United Group, City have already signed the Germany international Jérôme Boateng from Hamburg for £10.5m and will renew their interest in James Milner of Aston Villa now he has returned from the World Cup.

Their plans do not stop there, with Roberto Mancini keen to bring in at least two more defenders and another striker. Edin Dzeko, the prolific Wolfsburg forward, remains a target and Mancini said signing a player of Silva's calibre will help attract new players regardless of the club's inability to offer Champions League football.

"David Silva is one of the best midfielders in Europe and I hope he will be a very important player for Manchester City," the manager said. "I am so pleased he is coming to us because I think he can make a big, big impact for Manchester City.

"In signing David, we are showing the world we are bringing the best players here and that we hope to compete to win the Premier League. When players see what is happening at Manchester City and the ambition, they are attracted to what we are building and want to be a part of it."

The transfer demonstrates how the club has the financial power to outmuscle even Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, the Premier League champions having targeted Silva before reluctantly withdrawing their interest when they established how serious City were.

Silva, restricted to one World Cup start so far and left out of the side since Spain's defeat to Switzerland, initially set his mind on a move to Real Madrid, having been led to believe there was genuine interest from the Bernabéu, but it had become clear to him since José Mourinho's appointment as manager that nothing would materialise.

His preference then was Chelsea but he has been won over by the scale of ambition at Eastlands and was impressed by the manner in which they set out their plans for the future. He was told the aim next season is to win the Premier League and then have a serious go at the Champions League the following year.

"I have enjoyed six years at Valencia, they discovered me as a footballer and will always be a special club for me," he said. "The time is right to seek a new challenge, and I am thrilled about playing in England with Manchester City. The Premier League is one of the best competitions in the world and I want to bring success to City and win trophies for them."

Touré, the brother of City's captain, Kolo, has agreed the terms of his move and the only complication is that Barcelona are going through a change of presidency and Joan Laporta's replacement, Sandro Rosell, has to ratify the agreement that was put in place in the past couple of weeks.

City do not envisage any problems and, if everything goes to plan, they hope to announce the arrival of the Ivory Coast international in the coming days.