Boateng to join City

Manchester City have begun what is expected to be another busy transfer window by sealing a deal for Germany defender Jerome Boateng.

The 21-year-old will officially become a City player on July 1, having agreed a five-year deal to sign from Hamburg.

Boateng was in Manchester today to confirm the details of the move before jetting off to South Africa to join up with the Germany team. No fee was announced by the club, but it had been reported that Boateng would cost around 12.5million euros.

Boateng had long been a target of City boss Roberto Mancini.

"This is a very good signing for Manchester City and I am pleased to bring Jerome to the club," the Italian told the club's website.

"He is a young player who is already of a very high quality, but I think he can continue to improve at City.

"He can play a number of positions in defence, which is important. He has proved his ability in Germany and I think he can be a very important player for Manchester City in the Premier League.

"It's good for Jerome to have agreed terms ahead of the World Cup, so he can now concentrate on playing for Germany. And I will be very interested to see how he gets on in the tournament, before welcoming him back to meet his team-mates in pre-season."

Boateng, the brother of Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince, follows current City players Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong in moving to Eastlands from Hamburg.