City agree Santa Cruz fee

19 June 2009 17:30
Manchester City have reached an agreement with Blackburn to sign Roque Santa Cruz for £18million, according to Sky Sports News sources. The Paraguayan striker's future has been the subject of intense speculation for some time and he was linked with a move to City during the January transfer window. Mark Hughes attempted to bring him in but could not agree a fee with Rovers as Sam Allardyce fought to keep one of his top players. Santa Cruz was brought to England by Hughes in 2007 when he was in charge at Ewood Park. The 27-year-old enjoyed a tremendous first season in the Premier League but struggled for form and fitness following Hughes' move from Blackburn to City. He has regularly been quoted as saying that he could leave Blackburn in the summer and it now appears he may be reunited with Hughes. It is understood a fee has been agreed but personal terms will need to be sorted out before a transfer can be finalised. City are looking to strengthen their squad considerably before the start of the 2008/9 campaign to enable them to compete with the top clubs. They already have a formidable set of strikers but Hughes feels Santa Cruz would provide a different kind of threat.

Source: SKY_Sports