Manuel Pellegrini has acclaimed Nicolás Otamendi as “the best defender in La Liga last season” after making the Argentina international their fourth major signing of the summer. Otamendi has agreed a five-year deal from Valencia in a deal that will be worth in the region of £34m and has been structured to help the Spanish club compensate for the fact they still owed City a significant proportion of the fee for Álvaro Negredo’s transfer last year.
Pellegrini said: “Nicolás 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, Nicolás 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.”
Otamendi, the 27-year-old former Porto player, will challenge Mangala and Martín Demichelis to become the new central defensive partner for the club captain Vincent Kompany.
“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,” Otamendi said. “That’s the most important. To be here inside a club that looks so wonderful from the outside is a dream.”
City have already signed Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph and Patrick Roberts and are still negotiating to make Kevin de Bruyne of Wolfsburg a possible club record transfer.
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