Manchester City have announced the signing of Argentina defender Nicolas Otamendi from Valencia.

The 27-year-old, who had been strongly linked with a £28.5million move to the Etihad Stadium since the weekend, has signed a five-year contract with the Barclays Premier League club.

Otamendi will bolster central defensive ranks at City that include two familiar faces in former Porto team-mate Eliaquim Mangala and international colleague Martin Demichelis, as well as captain Vincent Kompany.

Otamendi told the club's website, www.mcfc.co.uk: "I am here to give my best, to fight game by game and push City to the highest peaks for as long as possible, and I wish we will be able to win several cups and titles.

"That's most important. To be here inside a club that looks so wonderful from the outside is a dream."

No financial details of the deal have been revealed but it is thought Valencia were hoping to use the sale to write off part of the fee they still owe City for striker Alvaro Negredo.

Otamendi joined the Spanish club from Porto just a year ago. Initial reports at the weekend claimed Valencia wanted to offset his loss by signing Mangala on loan in exchange but City had no intention of allowing the £42million Frenchman to leave Eastlands.

City manager Manuel Pellegrini said: "Nicolas Otamendi was arguably the best defender in La Liga last season and so naturally I'm delighted to have added a player of his quality.

"He is an established international for one of the best nations in world football and I have no doubt that he has the right mentality to fit into a squad where he will find many familiar faces, including Eliaquim and Fernando who he played alongside in Portugal.

"As a footballer, Nicolas has all of the qualities to be a success in the Premier League – he's strong, he's excellent in the tackle and he's very good technically.

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"I am sure he will become another Argentine player our fans will enjoy watching."

Otamendi has 25 caps for Argentina and was a member of the side that reached the Copa America final in the summer alongside new City team-mates Demichelis, Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta.

The Buenos Aires-born player also won the Portuguese league three times in four seasons with Porto as well as the Europa League.

He is City's third high-profile recruit of the summer after the captures of Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph. His signing has also been completed relatively smoothly compared to their protracted apparent pursuit of Wolfsburg's Kevin de Bruyne.

City reportedly made a £47million offer for the former Chelsea midfielder last week but there have been no developments and Pellegrini has consistently refused to comment.

The Belgium international was quoted on Monday saying he intended to stay at Wolfsburg but his comments at an awards ceremony were given little credence as he had been urged to repeat a phrase on stage by the event's host.