Man City sign £15.4m goalkeeper Bravo from Barcelona

Manchester City have signed goalkeeper Claudio Bravo from Barcelona for 18m euros (£15.4m).

The fee for the 33-year-old Chile international could rise with £1.7m of add-ons, say the Spanish club.

Bravo, who has signed a four-year contract, is expected to start ahead of England goalkeeper Joe Hart and Argentine Willy Caballero.

Barca have replaced Bravo with Netherlands international Jasper Cillessen, who joins from Ajax.

Bravo said: “I’m very proud to be joining Manchester City.

“I know the club is building something very special and I hope I can be part of many successes in the coming years.”

Bravo joined Barcelona in 2014 and has won two La Liga titles, the Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup.

“It is not easy to leave a club like Barcelona where I had two fantastic years, but the opportunity to work with Pep Guardiola was too good to refuse,” he added.

Guardiola, who became City manager in the summer, said: “Claudio is a fantastic goalkeeper and an excellent addition to our squad.

“He has experience and great leadership qualities and is in the prime of his life. He is a goalkeeper I have admired for a number of years and I’m really happy he is now a City player.”

Guardiola has signed Bravo as he has major reservations about Hart’s ability to play as the kind of ‘sweeper-keeper’ his preferred system demands.

Hart, 29, was dropped by Guardiola for the first three games of the season but was made captain for their Champions League play-off win against Steaua Bucharest, keeping a clean sheet in his first start of the season.

It was expected Hart would leave the club before the transfer window closes on 31 August, but an immediate transfer is no longer certain.

He does not want to move to Sevilla or Borussia Dortmund, both of whom are reported to be interested in signing him.

Everton seemed a potential destination late last week but manager Ronald Koeman has said he has “no interest” in signing Hart.

England manager Sam Allardyce has said Hart’s situation is “a concern” but that he would pick the player in his squad for the World Cup qualifier against Slovakia on 4 September.

–