Manchester City have officially had a 19 million pound offer accepted for CSKA Moscow’s Brazilian striker Jo.
44 goals in 77 appearances for Moscow was the impressive haul which alerted The Citizens to his talents, and Mark Hughes deftly swooped to make Jo his first City signing. It appears that Hughes’ days of wheeling and dealing are over, as the £19m fee being touted is the type of fee spent by teams chasing glory.
Just last Wednesday, Man City chief executive Garry Cook said:
“Jo is a player who interests us and we’re currently in discussions with CSKA Moscow and his representatives,”
Now it is clear that the discussions were successful, and Manchester City fans will surely be delighted to see their club taking steps in the right direction. Especially after the recent controversial handling of ex-manager Sven Goran Eriksson.
Jo’s move to the City of Manchester stadium could also pave the way for fellow Brazilian Ronaldinho to follow, as surely it would be a more attractive to move to Manchester with a friend already there.
Jo’s move is not without controversy, with top agent Kia Joorabchian involved. It was thought that some of the fee would be going to a third party, which is against English regulations, but it now appears that a percentage will be going to his old club Corinthians because of a sell-on clause which took him to CSKA Moscow in the first place.
“CSKA Moscow have an agreement in place with his previous club Corinthians, who would collect a certain percentage of the sell-on fee.
“This is not, however, a third-party ownership. It’s an arrangement between two clubs and is no different from any other deals which contain such clauses. Joorabchian’s spokesman
So with the deal looking legit, the only costly thing in this deal would be the astronomical fee. City fans will be hoping they will see the return in goals.