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Manchester City have taken their spending in the winter transfer window to £172m by bringing in Nico Gonzalez from Porto for £49m.
The Premier League champions, who have been the biggest spenders of the window, belatedly signed a midfielder just before the deadline by buying the 23-year-old Spaniard.
Gonzalez has signed a four-and-a-half year contract at the Etihad Stadium and has become City’s fourth signing in 15 days.
He joins £59m forward Omar Marmoush, £33m centre-back Abdudokir Khusanov and £29m defender Vitor Reis as the additions in Pep Guardiola’s new-year spending spree.
City have been short of young legs at the centre of the pitch, with Guardiola describing his midfield last week as “old”, in the extended absence of the injured Rodri.
They had originally hoped to get through the rest of the season without buying a midfielder but were forced to recruit as they struggled, losing 11 games since the end of October, dropping out of the top four in the Premier League and only finishing 22nd in the Champions League group stage.
But they described Gonzalez as the “ideal acquisition”. They had considered a number of other midfielders and were interested in loaning Douglas Luiz, but Juventus would not let the Brazilian go without an obligation to buy him.
Gonzalez, who Porto bought from Barcelona for just €8.5m in 2023, said: “This is the perfect opportunity for me at this stage of my career. I am 23 and I want to test myself in England. There’s no better club than Manchester City for me to do that.
“Look at the squad they have here; it’s unbelievable, full of world-class players. There isn’t a footballer in the world who would not want to be part of this set-up.
“I know the reputation Pep has and I cannot wait to work with him. In fact, I am honoured he wants me to play in his team. I am truly excited.”
Director of football Txiki Begiristain added: “Nico is a very talented young midfielder. He is an ideal acquisition for Manchester City. It was a difficult transfer to complete because his performances have been outstanding, and he has been such an important part of what FC Porto are doing this season. We are really happy we have managed to get this done before the window closed.
“He is ready to help us in the second half of the season as we compete in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Club World Cup.”
