Eastlands bound: David Silva (centre) has agreed to
join City
David Silva has completed his £30million move from
Valencia to Manchester City.
The Spain winger is moving to Eastlands on a five-year deal and
becomes Roberto Mancini’s second World Cup signing of the summer
following Germany defender Jerome Boateng’s £10m transfer from
Hamburg.
The Silva deal was completed - subject to a medical - after
Spain reached the quarter-finals with victory over Portugal in Cape
Town on Tuesday night.
Sportsmail revealed
last week that City had seen off late interest from Chelsea to
snare Silva, but Spanish officials wanted to be sure of progressing
in the tournament before the deal was confirmed and were wary that
he could have been accused of putting personal ambition before his
country if they had lost to their neighbours.
Gracias: Silva enjoyed his time at
Valencia
However, once Silva’s former Valencia team-mate David
Villa scored to clinch their place in the last eight, they were
keen for the move to go through as quickly as
possible.
Silva, 24, who has been at Valencia since 2004, will officially
sign after the World Cup. 'I have enjoyed six years at Valencia,
they discovered me as a footballer and they will always be a
special club for me,' he said.
‘The time is right for me to seek a new challenge, and I am
thrilled about playing in England with Manchester City.
'I believe 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.
Midfield marauder: Ivory Coast star Yaya Toure
(centre) should be next
‘I want to say that I always hoped to come to Manchester
City and I am excited about my future there. 'They are a club with
a great future with fantastic players. I want to be an important
player in Manchester City’s history.
‘There has been a lot of speculation about me in the British and
Spanish media, and I need to fully concentrate on playing for Spain
in the World Cup.
'That is why my advisers have been dealing with City for me so
that I can have my attentions only on South Africa and playing well
for my national team.’
First arrival: Germany defender Boateng
City boss Mancini, who hopes to add Ivory Coast
international Yaya Toure before the end of the week after agreeing
a £28m deal with Barcelona, is delighted to have signed
Silva.
‘I think that David Silva is one of the best midfielders in
Europe, and I hope he will be a very important player for
Manchester City,' said the Italian.
‘I am so pleased he is coming to us, I think he can make a big,
big impact for Manchester City.
'In signing David, we are showing the world that 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 City and the ambition
they are attracted to what we are building and want to be a part of
it.
‘I hope he does very well for Spain in the World Cup and then
joins us for our pre-season, ready to compete in the Premier
League. I am very excited about seeing him playing for City.’
Real Madrid had been lining up a deal for Silva earlier this
year only for new boss Jose Mourinho to prefer other targets.
Barcelona and Chelsea have also courted him, while Liverpool
tried unsuccessfully to sign him last summer.
City's deal for holding midfielder Toure is all but done, but
must be rubber-stamped by new Barcelona president Sandro Rosell,
who officially starts his job on Thursday.
