Manchester City rope in Spanish forward Nolito

English football giants Manchester City on Friday announced the signing of Spanish forward Nolito on a four-year deal from La Liga side Celta Vigo.

The 29-year-old has spent the last three seasons with Celta, scoring 39 goals in 103 appearances. He had a release clause of around $18.3 million.

"I'll try to bring as much as I possibly can. I'll do everything that the manager asks of me, try my absolute best and do everything I can to try to repeat the form I've shown throughout my career at various clubs," Nolito was quoted as saying by the City website.

"It's just about trying to play my normal game and let's hope that I can help Manchester City to win games.

"I think that Pep Guardiola is one of the best managers in the world. He knows a lot about the game and he's going to help me progress as a player and I'm sure he'll get the best out of me."

He becomes City's second signing under Guardiola this summer -- the first being German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund.

Nolito also plied his trade under Guardiola during his time at Barcelona B. He was with the Catalans' B side from 2008 to 2011.

The Spaniard can also play as a winger and began his career with Écija Balompie. He later moved to Barcelona B who who had just been promoted to the second tier of La Liga.

During his stay at Barcelona B he scored 29 goals in 106 appearances before being promoted to the senior team under Guardiola, making five appearances in the 2010/11 campaign.

He joined Benfica next where he enjoyed two seasons with the Portuguese giants. He scored 16 goals from 63 starts.

Nolito was loaned to Granada for six months during the 2012/13 campaign before joining Celta Vigo on a permanent deal.

He was consistently one of the best players in Celta Vigo which earned him his first international call-up at any level aged 28, playing in Spain's 0-1 defeat to Germany.

He fared well in the build up to the Euro and also started all three of Spain's group matches in the quadrennial event and also the Round of 16 defeat against Italy.

Nolito will wear the No.9 shirt at City this season.

--IANS

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