Manchester City FC

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City finally snare Santa Cruz

22 Jun 2009 - 17:33:14

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Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has finally snapped up the Paraguay international striker Roque Santa Cruz from his former club Blackburn Rovers.

City are believed to have signed the 27-year-old ex-Bayern Munich forward for £18million after a proposed transfer for the player stalled during the January transfer window.

Santa Cruz was reported to have an £18million buyout clause in his contract but City refused to meet the figure with a series of bids five months ago.

The forward made no secret of his desire to leave Ewood Park after scoring 29 goals in 70 appearances for Rovers since moving from Bayern Munich two years ago.

He made only a handful of appearances during the second half of last term following a knee injury but continually hinted that his future was likely to be away from Rovers.

He moved to Bayern from Olimpia in 1999 after joining the Paraguayan side at the age of nine and made his debut for the first team when aged only 16.

Santa Cruz helped Olimpia win successive domestic titles in 1998 and 1999 and his performances alerted Bayern who snapped him up in late 1999.

However, a series of injuries dogged his time in the Bundesliga and he was never a regular goalscorer for the German giants.

Santa Cruz is City's second major signing of the summer following the capture of Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry.