EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent
Manchester City are in advanced talks to sign Stevan Jovetic from Fiorentina, Goal.com can reveal.
City have indicated to the Serie A club they are willing to meet their £23.6million (€30m) valuation of the 22-year-old forward.
Sources have told Goal.com that negotiations between the clubs are progressing well and City are increasingly confident of capturing Jovetic before the end of the window.
| JOVETIC IN NUMBERS |
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| CLUB STATS |
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| 2011-12 APPEARANCES 2011-12 GOALS CAREER APPEARANCES CAREER GOALS |
28 14 147 39 |
| INTERNATIONAL CAREER |
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| DEBUT CAPS GOALS |
2007 21 10 |
The Premier League champions made their move at the end of last week after being beaten to the signature of Robin van Persie by rivals Manchester United.
But manager Roberto Mancini has made it clear to the City hierarchy that the club require another forward, even though they already have Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dezko, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and John Guidetti on their books.
Jovetic, who joined Fiorentina from Partizan in 2008, was the subject of strong interest from Juventus earlier this summer but the Serie A champions were unwilling to pay more than £15.7m (€20m) for the player, who prefers to play in the No.10 role behind the main striker.
Jovetic has told Fiorentina that he wants to leave the club following a summer in which a considerable turnover of players has led him to doubt their prospects this season.
New manager Vincenzo Montella has recruited a trio of playmakers in former Liverpool man Alberto Aquilani, Matias Fernandez from Sporting Lisbon and Borja Valero from Villarreal.
“Jovetic is not happy with the situation at Fiorentina,” a source told Goal.com. “He is the star of the team but wants to be part of a team of stars.”
Dzeko is expected to be the City first-teamer who makes way for Jovetic, with Juventus and Milan among the clubs closely monitoring his situation.
City are also confident they will sell Adebayor to Tottenham for £4m by the end of the window, and they are in negotiations to offload Santa Cruz.
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