Manchester City Reportedly Close to Signing Sevilla Striker Alvaro Negredo

Only days after selling Carlos Tevez to Juventus, Manchester City are reportedly set to replace the Argentinian by signing Sevilla FC striker Alvaro Negredo.

Sky Sports had originally reported that City were lining up a move for the 27-year-old—news that was quickly confirmed by reports in Spain (h/t Eurosport) which claim that Manuel Pellegrini looks set to increase his summer spending even further with a £24 million deal for the striker.

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Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo will join Manchester City in a £24 million deal, according to reports in Spain. Madrid-based sports station Marca—affiliated to the newspaper—reported that the Spain international would move to Eastlands for the fee of 28 million euros (£24m).

The 27-year-old former Almeria, Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano forward has made no secret of his desire to leave Andalusia. He has long been linked with a move to the Premier League, with Tottenham Hotspur previously tipped as a destination.

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Atletico Madrid were thought to be heavily interested in Negredo as well this summer, but they were reportedly unable to match the spending of Manchester City.

An Atletico spokesman told Orgull de Nervion (h/t Goal): "We can't compete with the petrodollars. We're speaking [to him] but we won't be able to reach the amount that Manchester City can offer."

Negredo represents another strong signing for the 2012 English champions, who have already added Shakhtar Donetsk's Fernandinho and Sevilla's Jesus Navas to their squad over the summer transfer window (per Fox Sports). The Spanish international has netted 70 goals in his 139 La Liga appearances to date and has six goals in just 14 appearances for the Spanish national team as well.

However, the pending transfer also has some intriguing impacts for the Premier League champions, with the first being how it affects the rest of their summer moves.

Signing Negredo most likely ends any interest that City have in Napoli striker Edinson Cavani, who remains one of the most coveted players in the rumor mill this summer. Negredo gives City three world-class strikers in their squad, and despite selling both Mario Balotelli and Tevez in the space of six months, they do not need to bring in another superstar like Cavani to the Etihad Stadium.

They have Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and now with Negredo in their squad as well. That trio should be more than enough for Manuel Pellegrini to work with.

Eurosport highlights that the transfer is somewhat of a bizarre move by City given that Negredo—widely regarded as a poacher—is a similar player to Dzeko.

However, if Dzeko is going to be utilized off the bench for large portions of the year—like he was to begin the season last year—then Negredo is, in fact, a very nice complement to the creative skills of Aguero and Navas, whom he played alongside last season in Spain.

£24 million is a strong amount of money, but not necessarily for City, who have already spend £50 million this summer signing both Navas and Fernandinho.

They have overpaid to some extent, but not by that much. Negredo is a world-class striker who could become a genuine star forward with the creative midfield and strong forward line that he'll have around him at Manchester City.

And for that, this is a very good summer transfer indeed.

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