Manuel Pellegrini announced he had
bought the 'best defender in La Liga' on Thursday after Manchester City
completed the £32million signing of Valencia's Nicolas Otamendi.
The Argentina international passed
his medical in Manchester and agreed terms on a five-year contract with the
Barclays Premier League club.
Otamendi had been linked with
Manchester United and Real Madrid but was unveiled as City's fifth signing
following the arrivals of Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph, Enes Unal and Patrick
Roberts.
MAN CITY SUMMER SIGNINGS
Raheem
Sterling (Liverpool, £49m)
Fabian Delph (Aston Villa, £8m)
Patrick Roberts (Fulham, £2m, rising to
£8m)
Enes Unal (Buraspor, £2m)
Nicolas Otamendi (Valencia, £32m)
Total spending: £99million
It is thought Valencia may use the
sale of the 27-year-old to write off part of the fee they still owe City for
striker Alvaro Negredo.
Otamendi was named in La Liga's Team
of the Year last season and Pellegrini has backed the centre back to
immediately fit in at the club.
Speaking to City's official website,
Pellegrini said: 'Nicolas Otamendi was arguably the best defender in La Liga
last season and so naturally I'm delighted to have added a player of his
quality.
'He is an established international
for one of the best nations in world football and I have no doubt that he has
the right mentality to fit into a squad where he will find many familiar faces,
including Eliaquim [Mangala] and Fernando who he played alongside in Portugal.
'As a footballer, Nicolas has all of the qualities to be
a success in the Premier League – he's strong, he's excellent in the tackle and
he's very good technically. I am sure he will become another Argentine player
our fans will enjoy watching
NICOLAS OTAMENDI FACT
Otamendi made more clearances than any other player in La Liga in
2014-15
Otamendi joined Valencia from Porto and made 35 appearances in La Liga,
scoring six goals.
Otamendi said: 'I am here to give my best, to fight game by game and push
City to the highest peaks for as long as possible, and I wish we will be able
to win several cups and titles. That's the most important. To be here inside a
club that looks so wonderful from the outside is a dream.'
Otamendi has 25 caps for Argentina and was a member of the side that
reached the 2015 Copa America final in July with City team-mates Martin
Demichelis, Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta.
He also won the Primeira Liga in Portugal in three out of four seasons with
Porto as well as the Europa League.
WHO IS NEW
MANCHESTER CITY SIGNING NICOLAS OTAMENDI?
The man who impressed Diego Maradona, told Valencia not to play him, and
regularly boxes... here, Sportsmail explains more about Manchester City's new
signing.
Nicolas Otamendi tells a story from his first call-up to the Argentina
national team that in many ways sums up his recent career. Diego Maradona was
national team coach before the 2010 World Cup and having called the young
defender up, Otamendi was on a plane to Santa Fe with the rest of his
team-mates.
'There were seven places in first class,' he tells Argentine magazine El
Grafico. 'They were reserved for the coaching staff but it was decided that the
players should take them so there was a draw made and I was one of the names
picked out. Some of the players thought I should have given my seat up to a
more senior player but I heard Maradona say: "Look at Otamendi, first cap
and he's already sat in first class".'
The 27-year-old defender who signed for Manchester City doesn't hang around
once he's on board. Last week, amid rumours linking him with City, he told
Valencia coach Nuno Espirito Santo: 'Don't put me in the team anymore. There is
a lot of money at stake here.'
He lacks inches - at six feet tall he is relatively short for a centre back
- but few head the ball better. 'I'm not the biggest defender but very little
gets past me in the air,' he says.
That was evident in January when he got the winner against Real Madrid to
end their 22-match unbeaten run. He had marshalled the Valencia defence against
the might of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema and then arrived
at the right time to score the decisive goal.
He is a big boxing fan and that means not only watching the sport but also
using the same training techniques. As a youngster he sparred at his local gym
and worked out with other young boxers to build both the speed and power, and
the endurance that are now his trademarks. 'The methods are very complete', he
says. 'You are working every part of your body.'
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