Manchester City have completed the transfer of Eliaquim Mangala, who becomes City’s 6th signing of the summer. The club from Manchester had already tried to agree a deal with FC Porto during the January transfer window, but the deal collapsed at that time. Now, after weeks of negotiations, they agreed a heavy fee with the Portuguese club. They will receive £24.4m from the Mangala sale, while third-party owner Doyen receives £14.2m, and Standard Liege £4.3m, according to reports.
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This transfer will be a relief for fans of Manchester City, especially after seeing their team record a dramatic 3-0 loss against Arsenal during the Community Shield final at Wembley on Sunday. The Gunners showed that ‘The Sky Blue’ will need to adjust their defensive tactics, as they looked vulnerable and disorganized.
Mangala is described as a powerful, solid and fast defender who commands the rest of his back four. Pairing him up with Belgian captain Vincent Kompany will mean that City boss Manuel Pellegrini can rely on two leaders in the heartbeat of his defense.
The 23-year-old France international is also able to score from set-pieces, proving so by scoring two more goals than Porto striker Jackson Martinez. Furthermore, he is strong in the air having won 11/22 headed duels in the Champions League and 19/24 in the Europa, as per Squawka.
Pellegrini described himself as a happy man with the signing of such a powerhouse. “Eliaquim is a player I believe will make an immediate impact in the Premier League, thanks to his physicality, his reading of the game and quality on the ball,” Pellegrini told the official Manchester City website.
“He has all of the mental, physical, technical and tactical attributes to become one of Europe’s very best defenders.”
However, not everybody will be happy with a new face at the club. First of all, City rival Manchester United and also Chelsea have been linked with the defender during this window. Secondly, players like Javi Garcia and Matija Nastasic could face the axe upon this signing, which will probably mean that they will have to pack their stuff and leave the club before this window ends. Nastasic has been linked with a move to Juventus, while Garcia is set to complete a switch to Zenit St Petersburg this week, according to Manchester Evening News.
Nevertheless, ‘The Citizens’ will have to trim their squad at some point, as they will have to comply with the UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations. The FFP has been applied since the 2011-2012 campaign, as per UEFA.
Altogether, City will be very pleased with their latest signing. They will try to defend their title as Champions of England starting on August 17, when they will face Newcastle United. If nothing goes wrong, Mangala will likely make his first appearance in that match.