Javi Garcia departs; City tie up captain and star striker on long term contracts
Manchester City midfielder Javi Garcia has left to join Russian side Zenit St Petersburg, who are currently managed by ex-Chelsea and Spurs boss Andre Villas Boas, for a fee of £13m on a five year deal.
The Spanish defensive midfielder left two years after arriving at the Etihad from Benfica for £16m.
Garcia never became a regular starter under Manuel Pellegrini or City’s previous manager Roberto Mancini. His position came under threat following the arrivals of Fernandinho and Fernando and with Financial Fair play effectively forcing City to sell a foreign player his fate seemed to have been sealed by an injury to striker Alvaro Negredo who had also been tipped for an exit during the summer.
Negredo paid respect to Garcia on Twitter following news of his departure:
He said: “Best of luck on your new adventure, brother. I wish and you and your family the very best. Thank you for your help when I arrived.”
City, who tonight announced that iconic striker Sergio Aguero had signed a new five-year deal, had yesterday also tied up skipper Vincent Kompany on a five-year deal. Lengthy deals had also been agreed with David Silva, Aleksander Kolarov and Samir Nasri earlier in the summer.
The fee earned by Garcia’s sale might not be used to bring in any more players with several weeks of the transfer window left after six arrivals but impending departures for home grown qualifying players Scott Sinclair and John Guidetti could suggest a move for a British player to bolster the home grown ranks after EDS defender Jason Denayer moved to Celtic.
Everton’s Ross Barkley had been mooted as a possible City target but it might be too soon to move for the England wonderkid.