MANCHESTER CITY HAVE confirmed the signing of Danilo from Real Madrid in a £26.5 million deal.
The 26-year-old has joined City on a five-year contract and will immediately link up with Pep Guardiola’s squad in the United States, where he may make his City debut in the International Champions Cup.
City beat competition from Chelsea for the Brazil international and the club are also confident of securing the services of another full-back in Monaco’s Benjamin Mendy, with confirmation of his imminent arrival expected in the coming days.
Danilo’s arrival takes City’s spending on full-backs past the £70m mark this close-season after they paid an initial £45m for Tottenham’s Kyle Walker – a deal that could rise to an eventual £50m.
City have seen a number of defenders depart the club since the end of last season. Aleksandar Kolarov was sold to Roma on Saturday, following Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna in leaving.
Pep Guardiola is understood to envisage using Danilo in a variety of roles, including left-back and defensive midfield, meaning he would not merely be cover for Walker on the right-hand side of defence.
“I am very, very happy to be joining Manchester City,” Danilo told City’s official website.
“There has been strong interest from other clubs, but it has always been my ambition to play for Pep Guardiola. As soon as I heard of his interest, I knew immediately I wanted to be a City player.
“I can’t wait to get started and I’m looking forward to getting to know my new team-mates over the coming weeks.”
Director of football Txiki Begiristain added: “Danilo is a fine player who offers great versatility to our squad. He can operate in several different roles in both defence and midfield, increasing Pep’s options ahead of the new season.
“We feel he has all the attributes needed to succeed at City and we look forward to helping him develop during his time here.”
Danilo joined Madrid from Porto in 2015, having arrived in Europe three years earlier on the back of Copa Libertadores glory with Santos.
He endured a tough time in the Spanish capital, where he became a victim of the Santiago Bernabeu’s infamous boo-boys, forcing head coach Zinedine Zidane to regularly defend the player.
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