Manchester City have agreed a deal with Fiorentina for striker Stevan Jovetic worth around £28million.
It is understood that City will pay an initial fee of £23m and it could rise by £5m in bonus payments.
The Italian club announced they had struck an agreement with Manuel Pellegini’s side on their official Twitter account.
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England calling: Stevan Jovetic looks set to join Manchester City from Fiorentina this summer
It read: ‘An agreement has been reached with Manchester City Football Club for the permanent sale of the player Stevan Jovetic.’
The 23-year-old has scored 35 league goals in five seasons with La Viola, who finished fourth in Serie A last season.
Jovetic is the fourth player bought by City this summer, following Fernandinho (£30m), Jesus Navas (£15m) and Alvaro Negredo (£20.6m) into the Etihad, meaning their summer spend is closing in on £100m.
Pellegrini unexpectedly left the club’s tour of South Africa earlier on Thursday to fly home to Chile for family reasons.
He is expected rejoin his players in Hong Kong early next week and Brian Judd will steer the ship in the meantime.
Big spender: Manuel Pellegrini has nearly spent £100m since joining City
JOVETIC PASS NOTES by Riath Al-Samarrai
It’s been a bit of a long-running saga, hasn’t it?
City have been linked with him since March, when Roberto Mancini was still in charge, and Manuel Pellegrini’s need to wrap up a deal has been exacerbated by the departure of Carlos Tevez. The move, should it go ahead, will be particularly galling for Arsene Wenger as the Arsenal manager has tailed him for months but ultimately couldn’t match City’s financial clout. Jose Mourinho was also an admirer, as were Juventus.
Tell us more about him.
He’s a young forward – 24 in November – but has stacks of experience. His first club, Partizan Belgrade, made him their youngest ever captain when he was just 18 after Antonio Rukavina joined Borussia Dortmund in January 2008. Later that year he signed for Fiorentina for a reported fee of £8m.
Comparisons: Jovetic has been likened to both Santi Cazorla (left) and Roberto Baggio
What does he bring to the team? His goal scoring stats are not sensational.
No. He scored 13 in 34 games for Fiorentina in all competitions last season and 14 in 29 the year before. But he’s about far more than goals. His preferred position is just behind the striker, but he did play as the leading man for Fiorentina in Luca Toni’s absence.
His touch and eye for a pass are said to be first class and he is brilliant with either foot, much like Santi Cazorla at Arsenal. Other comparisons have been made with Roberto Baggio and Gianfranco Zola, but at 6ft 1in he also has a physical edge to his game. At international level, he has 27 caps for Montenegro and has scored 10 goals. He was part of the side that held England to a costly 1-1 draw in a World Cup qualifier in March.
Sharp shooter: Jovetic has an impressive scoring record and is seen as the answer to City’s shortage in attack
What else do people say about him?
In Italy his nickname is Jo Jo, but the fans and media also once labeled him Brian May, after the Queen guitarist with the big hair. His style seems to have changed since then. In 2009, the then Montenegro boss Dejan Savicevic was asked to compare Jovetic to himself and he said: ‘He is utterly fearless and I don’t see a limit to his potential. Is he the new Savicevic? No, he can be even better. He reminds me of Johan Cruyff.’
Are there any question marks over him?
Despite his height, there have been doubts about his ability in the air and it’ s worth keeping in mind that he missed the 2010-11 season after rupturing the cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Would his signing mean the end of a move for Alvaro Negredo from Sevilla?
No. They are both targets for Pellegrini in their own right and it’s understood that the Chilean still wants Negredo, though that move is looking a little shaky after Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido said there is only a ‘one per cent’ chance of a deal happening.
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