City Set To Land Zabaleta

Manchester City are on the verge of signing Pablo Zabaleta from Espanyol after tabling a bid that looks set to be accepted by the Catalan outfit.

Mark Hughes is keen to continue strengthening his squad before the transfer window closes on Monday and adding to his defence has been an aim all summer.

Zabaleta has also been linked with Juventus, but la Vecchia Signora officials stated last month that they would not be signings any more players.

Espanyol have admitted that every member of their squad has a price, but that nobody would be allowed to leave for less than the valuation that the club have stated.

Zabaleta's asking price is around €8m and Manchester City have matched that meaning that talks should begin over a deal before the end of the week.

The Argentinian defender's agent, Marcelo Arguello, would receive 50 per cent of any fee and that has also made a difference to the amount being demanded.

If City do complete a deal then that could pave the way for right-back Vedran Corluka to move to Tottenham for around €10m after the two clubs appeared to agree to the move two weeks ago.

While Spurs claim that they have signed the player, City claim that the registration never changed hands and that he is still their player, but Corluka himself is said to now want to go to White Hart Lane.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com