Whilst others miss out on targets and ponder next moves, Manchester City are making great strides to further strengthen their title challenging squad for the new season.
Already buoyed by the signings of Fernandinho and Jesus Navas, Spanish hotshot Alvaro Negredo has now also made the switch to the blue half of Manchester. The Spanish international following his Chilean manager, and indeed Navas, from Sevilla to the Etihad.
The 27-year-old, who has fourteen Spanish caps and six international goals, has signed for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £28M.
Not content with one new striker, City have also moved to agree a deal with Fiorentina for Montenegrin forward Stevan Jovetic.
The Serie A side announced on Thursday evening that they had accepted an offer around the £21.5M mark and the Fiorentina marksman is expected to complete a medical before the week-end having flown in to Manchester today.
City’s incoming business has focused heavily on the top end of the pitch, whilst they have also moved to offload Carlos Tevez to Juventus.
The question to emerge from their heavy spending looks to hang over Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko who has been subject to interest from abroad and Premier League rivals.
Perhaps Pellegrini will simply enjoy the luxury of having the choice of Aguero, Negredo, Jovetic and Dzeko too.
One who has already left is Maicon, the Brazilian fullback joining Roma after making just thirteen appearances for City since signing for a reported £3M on August deadline day last season.
He has completed a permanent move for an undisclosed fee, whilst Kolo Toure has also departed to join Liverpool.
The 2011/12 Champions’ summer spending has now pushed over the £90M mark, and they may not be finished just yet either with The Independent this morning reporting that City have made a £25.8m bid for Benfica winger Eduardo Salvio.
Negredo is already 27 so some have questioned the reported £28M fee, which City have chosen not to disclose, though it looks to be outweighed by the fact that he has been recognized as one of La Liga’s hottest properties in recent years.
City’s new number nine featured prominently in the scoring charts last season with 25 league goals. The only players to score more were arguably the three best players in the World; Ronaldo, Messi, and new French import Radamel Falcao.
Jovetics’ nickname is the ‘The Montenegrin Messi’ so City fans could be forgiven for having high hopes for this established international.
The 23 year old has a ten goal return from twenty seven caps so far, and looks a longer term investment for the big spenders with his age and versatility, as they aim to wrestle back the title from their Manchester neighbours.