Manchester City has reportedly agreed to sign a record 54 million-pound transfer deal with Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao, who will become City's first signing of the Manuel Pellegrini era.
City has met the buy-out clause in the Atletico contract of the Colombian, who has long been one of hottest properties in world football, to snatch him away from incoming Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho and boost their profile of the Premier League, the Mirror reports.
According to the report, Mourinho and Falcao share an agent, Jorge Mendes, and the Special One was hoping Falcao would join him at Chelsea.
However, the report said that Falcao is keen to work with Pellegrini, who is expected to sign a two-year deal at City within a fortnight, and is said to prefer City rather than go head-to-head with Fernando Torres, the favourite of owner Roman Abramovich, at Stamford Bridge.
The report further said that Falcao, whose transfer fee will surpass the 50 million pounds that Chelsea paid Liverpool for Torres in 2011, is set to arrive on a deal worth more than 200,000 pounds per week, adding that his imminent arrival will allow Carlos Tevez to leave City and choose between lucrative offers from wealthy French clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco.
Falcao will now link up at the Etihad with Sergio Aguero, the man he replaced at Atletico in 2011, the report added.