Manchester City have reportedly won the race for highly-rated Argentinian midfielder Bruno Zuculini.
The 20-year-old holding player was also wanted by Manchester United and Barcelona but is set to join City, according to reports in The Sun and Goal.com.
Zuculini currently plays for Racing Club in his homeland, but will move to the Etihad for £1.5m at the end of the season.
City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain has worked quickly to snap up the youngster before Barca and rivals United had made their move. And Zuculini’s stock was set to rise even further if, as predicted, he breaks into the Argentina squad before next summer’s World Cup.
The deal is not dependent on a work permit because Zuculini has an Italian passport.
When he arrives ahead of next season, he will go into City’s first-team squad rather than the development squad and will challenge the likes of Yaya Toure, Fernandinho, Javi Garcia and Jack Rodwell for a place in the starting line-up.
He has made more than 70 appearances and scored 10 goals for Racing Club since making his debut three years ago.
