• Premier League

City will only make one more signing

ESPN staff
August 1, 2014
Eliaquim Mangala has been linked with a move to Manchester City © Getty Images
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Ferran Soriano says Manchester City's summer transfer business will be complete when they bring in a central defender and rejected suggestions that they "sign players for the sake of it".

The City chief executive believes the Premier League champions will be stronger this season in their second year under Manuel Pellegrini and benefit from a recruitment plan devised a year ago.

Starlets to develop at New York City FC

Seko Fofana in action for Manchester City under 21's © Getty Images
  • Manchester City may send some of their younger players to New York City FC to enhance their development. They own the American club, who will join MLS in 2015, with baseball giants New York Yankees
  • "We have some very bright young players in Europe; we might ask them to come to New York to play before they play at City.
  • "We will be able to help in what matters, in bringing good players, coaching methodology, technology, everything to help this New York team succeed."

City have brought in right-back Bacary Sagna, defensive midfielder Fernando and goalkeeper Willy Caballero and are closing in on a deal for Porto centre-back Eliaquim Mangala.

And former Barcelona chief executive Soriano insists that City are not guilty of scattergun spending but are pursuing a strategy they agreed upon at the start of Pellegrini's reign.

Soriano told ESPN: "We don't plan season by season, we plan in cycles. We knew one year ago the positions we wanted to reinforce in the team and we did it. We have a new right back, a new holding midfielder and we will have a new central defender and that's it.

"We don't need to sign new players for the sake of it. We need to sign the players that the team needs because the team has a balance. To win you need to keep the balance. Our squad is very strong and it's the second year they play coached by Pellegrini so they'll do much better."

Manager Pellegrini said earlier this week that the deal for Mangala is not "100 percent" done, although City accidentally released an interview with the defender on their club website and he was pictured in Manchester undergoing a medical.

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