Santa Cruz may move to Manchester City

Manchester City have agreed a deal with Blackburn to buy striker Roque Santa Cruz.

Blackburn’s Paraguayan Striker Roque Santa Cruz, who has a buy-out clause of amount tallying to £18m in his contract, could link up with City boss Mark Hughes, who had bought the Paraguayan from Bayern when he was Blackburn manager before moving to the Eastlands.

After joining from Bundesliga side Bayern Munich for £3.8m in 2007, Santa Cruz went on to make 70 appearances for Rovers, scoring 29 goals.

But last season he scored just six goals with Rovers fighting for survival, and a knee injury keeping him on the sidelines for the last two months.

The 27 year old was a transfer target for City in January, but Rover’s boss Sam Allardyce had refused to sell him.

And the player, who was under contract with Blackburn until 2012, has made no secret of his desire to leave.

If the deal goes through, then he will become Man City’s second signing, after Gareth Barry’s £18m move from Aston Villa.