Manchester City have signed Atletico Madrid defender Martin Demichelis on a 2-year deal for a fee believed to be in the region of £4.2m.
The Argentinian defender will wear the number 26 shirt and will rejoin his former River Plate and Malaga manager Manuel Pellegrini at the Etihad for a third spell playing under the Chilean.
Demichelis, 32, has 37 caps for Argentina and will bolster City’s defensive options which have been threadbare following injuries to captain Vincent Kompany and Matija Nastasic.
Nastasic only returned to the City defence last Saturday in the game against Hull City while Kompany is expected to take longer to recover from a groin injury with the latest reports suggesting a further six week absence for the Belgian national team captain.
Demichelis, who spent seven trophy-laden years at Bayern Munich, spoke to the Manchester City website and said:
“I am delighted to have joined City because I am still hungry for success and want to improve.”
“I have been in Europe for 11 years now and this was a great chance for me to play in the Premier League with such a big club.
“When there is a change, there is always a process. There’s always a period of adjustment you have to go through. Moving from South America to Europe is a big change and you need some time to settle in because everything is new.
“But in my case, I have lived in Europe for many years and I don’t think there’ll be any problems in adjusting to life here. Now I want to repay the manager’s faith in me out on the pitch. I can’t wait to get started.”