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Manchester City have completed the signing of FC Porto’s French international defender Eliaquim Mangala for a reported £42.9m., the Premier League champions announced.
This makes the Mangala the most expensive defender in Premier League history.
Mangala was part of French squad for the World Cup in Brazil, but failed to get on to the pitch for Les Bleus.
The sturdy centre-back has been the topic of immense transfer speculation this summer with City’s Premier League rivals Manchester United and Chelsea also linked with the Frenchman. However, Manchester City’s willingness to bring out the extra dough seemed to have finally made the difference.
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It was widely believed that the deal was one of the worst kept secrets in football this summer as Mangala was pictured in the city of Manchester a month.
However, the third-party ownership issue (which is outlawed in the Premier League) kept the deal from coming to fruition. Porto released a statement to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) indicating they were paid £24.4m for just 56.57% of the player’s rights.
The rest of the cash will supposedly be distributed between super-agent Jorge Mendes (£14.2m) and Mangala’s former club Standard Liege (£4.3m).
Pellegrini: Mangala has all the attributes to become one of Europe’s best defenders
City manager Manuel Pellegrini expressed delight in having finally completing the deal for the Frenchman.
“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,” he told the club website.
“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.”
Manchester City have been on the lookout for someone to pair with Vincent Kompany at the back, with Pellegrini unconvinced by the emerging talents of Matija Nastasic and Dedryck Boyata. The Chilean even opted to bring in the veteran Martín Demichelis last season to give some stability to Manchester City’s backline.
