The German international defender will formally become a City
player from July 1st. As this date could still coincide
with his World Cup duty with Germany, Boateng conducted a
whistlestop tour of Carrington and City of Manchester Stadium in
order to finalise the details of his move ahead of the big kick-off
in South Africa.
Boateng is a versatile defender who can play at either
centre-half or full-back. The 21-year-old is highly rated in
Germany, having played 75 times for Hamburg and three times for the
German national side.
City boss Roberto Mancini is an admirer of the 6ft 3ins
defender, and was delighted to secure his first signing of the
summer.
Mancini said: “This is a very good signing for Manchester City
and I am pleased to bring Jerome to the Club. He is a young player
who is already of a very high quality, but I think he can continue
to improve at City.
“It’s good for Jerome to have agreed terms ahead of the World
Cup, so he can now concentrate on playing for Germany. And I will
be very interested to see how he gets on in the tournament, before
welcoming him back to meet his team-mates in pre-season."
Boateng, who is the younger brother of Portsmouth midfielder
Kevin-Price, becomes the third City signing from Hamburg in recent
years, following the 2008 recruitment of Belgian utility man
Vincent Kompany and 2009 signing of Dutch midfielder Nigel De
Jong.
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