Manchester City closing in on £25m deal for Otamendi

Money owed for the Alvaro Negredo deal made deal possible

Manchester City are closing in on a £25 million deal for Valencia centre-back Nicolas Otamendi, Goal understands.

Otamendi, 27, followed up a breakthrough season in Spain by helping Argentina reach the final of this summer's Copa America and has been repeatedly linked with a move to Manchester United in recent months.

But it is rivals City who have won the race to sign the Argentine they hope will prove a worthy defensive partner for captain Vincent Kompany, with Mangala failing to convince in the Premier League since his £32m move from Porto in the summer of 2014.

Otamendi has become a key figure at Valencia but the Spanish giants are under pressure to sell players in order to meet Financial Fair Play obligations.

With thanks to Goal.com for their kind contribution.