Manchester City are close to signing Rolando Bianchi, the Italian striker, after agreeing a fee with his current club Reggina.
The 24-year-old, who scored 18 goals in Serie A last season, is to undergo a medical at City’s Carrington training ground today.
Bianchi, who has played for the Azzurri at under-21 level, would be City’s first signing since Sven Goran Eriksson’s appointment as manager. The undisclosed fee is believed to be in the region of £8.8million.
Bianchi proved invaluable to Reggina in Serie A last season, with his goals largely responsible for saving the Calabrian club from relegation. They finished 14th, just one point above the drop zone, despite suffering an 11-point deduction for their involvement in the corruption scandal that blighted Italian football last year.
Pasquale Foti, the Italian club’s president, said: “The negotiations are going forward and there is a willingness for an agreement. There are no problems at the moment and I think it will be shortly concluded.”
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Eriksson is hopeful the deal can be completed for Bianchi to be a City player by the time of the club’s first pre-season friendly at Doncaster on Saturday.
Bianchi would not be involved at the Keepmoat Stadium but at least a swift conclusion to the transfer - Eriksson’s first since he succeeded Stuart Pearce as manager last week - would allow the Italian to have a couple of training sessions with his new team-mates before they depart for a two-game tour of Sweden next Wednesday.
Eriksson has made it a priority to bring in striking reinforcements - City scored just 29 goals last season.