Rolando Bianchi, the Reggina striker, is poised to become the first signing of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s managerial reign at Manchester City.
The 24-year-old, who finished fourth top-scorer in Serie A last season with 18 goals, will be officially confirmed as a City player on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Italian club.
“We have reached a preliminary agreement with Manchester City for the permanent transfer of Rolando Bianchi to the English club in a €13 million [£8.8 million] transfer deal,” Pasquale Foti, the Reggina president, said. “The deal will be completed on Wednesday.”
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.
The former Atalanta and Cagliari striker, who represented Italy at Under-21 level, has been linked with moves to Middlebrough and Arsenal in recent weeks.
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Meanwhile, Thaksin has been ordered to appear in court in Thailand to face corruption charges only three days after City’s opening game of the season.
Supreme Court judges have called on the former Thai prime minister to be present at the start of his trial on August 14 to face charges concerning “misconduct of a government official and violation of a ban on state officials being party to transactions involving public interests”.
Thaksin and his wife deny the allegations, relating to a land deal transacted while he was in power, which could carry a 10-year jail sentence. Last week Thaksin said he would only return to Thailand to face corruption charges if he could be sure of a fair trial. “I will return to face the facts and trial if and when the justice system goes back to normal,” he said.