Manchester City: Negredo is a great fit to replace Tevez

Alvaro Negredo looks set to complete a move to Manchester City

As reports suggest that Spanish striker Alvaro Negredo is close to joining City, Christian Crowther discusses the potential merits of the Sevilla ace...

When Manuel Pellegrini opted to let Carlos Tevez leave for Turin last week, it was clear that the new manager would need to replace him.

Whatever Manchester City fans thought of the controversial Argentine, there was no doubting his goalscoring prowess while wearing the sky blue of Manchester, scoring 74 times in just 148 appearances.

But while many were expecting to see Napoli's much sought-after striker Edinson Cavani emerging as the man to replace Tevez, it now looks like they have turned to Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo instead.

The deal to bring the 27-year-old to the Etihad Stadium could end up costing City 28 million, even though an 18 million get-out clause had been mooted.

Despite wanting to keep hold of their star striker, Sevilla are now resigned to losing Negredo as the player is adamant he will leave the club to secure Champions League football.

Of course, that is guaranteed at City, where the club are desperate to succeed after two hugely disappointing campaigns. They are currently 14.013/1 for European glory having brought in Fernandinho and Jesus Navas already this window.

The question is whether Negredo can seriously aid that quest for European success and whether he is really a good enough replacement for Tevez.

Though Negredo has yet to reach double figures in terms of appearances in Europe's top competition, he certainly knows where the back of the net is; scoring 25 La Liga goals in 2012/13, more than any other Spaniard in that division, contributing to a hugely impressive overall tally of 70 goals in 139 league games for the club.

Negredo was also prolific at Almeria before joining up with Sevilla in 2009, registering 32 goals in just 70 league outings, so there is no doubting that he has the pedigree to succeed.

And given Tevez' woeful record for City in European competition - he didn't register a goal in 12 appearances across three seasons - Negredo hardly has much to live up to there.

Another major plus point is that the Spaniard is 18 months younger than the departing Tevez, meaning that the English club should still get three or four of his best years.