Man City on brink of £18M deal for Blackburn's Santa Cruz

Manchester City are set to make Roque Santa Cruz their first signing of the January market.

The Daily Mail says City will kick-start the January sales by agreeing a fee of £18million with Blackburn for striker Santa Cruz in the next 24 hours.

Talks are at an advanced stage, with both clubs keen to complete the move quickly. City manager Mark Hughes is anxious to secure a player he signed for Blackburn from Bayern Munich for a bargain fee of £3.8m just 16 months ago, while new Rovers boss Sam Allardyce expects to be handed £10m from the sale and wants as much time as possible to spend it.

Santa Cruz himself insisted on Tuesday he would only quit Ewood Park for another Barclays Premier League club despite interest from Real Madrid.

The 27-year-old told Radio Primero de Mayo: "I would like to stay in England. I like this league. It is one of the most competitive in the world."

He added: "I have nothing to do with any offers. They are made to the club and the directors make a decision."