Premier League: Alvaro Negredo hails strike partnership with Sergio Aguero
Alvaro Negredo says he struck up an immediate understanding with Manchester City strike partner Sergio Aguero
The pair have plundered 22 goals between them this season, making them the most productive attacking unit in the Premier League.
Negredo has hit the ground running following a summer switch from Sevilla, while Aguero has returned to top form following a frustrating 2012/13 campaign.
A shared language has helped the duo to flourish, but both are also fluent in the art of unlocking defences.
Negredo said of the understanding they share: "It's been good from day one and with both of us speaking Spanish, we understand each other.
"He's a great player, and with great players it's easy to get along.
"From the first moment we did well together and when we play, we understand one another."
Negredo netted his first City hat-trick in a 5-2 UEFA Champions League demolition of CSKA Moscow on Tuesday, while Aguero was also on target against Russian opposition, and club colleague Samir Nasri believes the Blues have found themselves the perfect strike attack.
The French playmaker said: "For me, Negredo and Aguero are really complete together.
"One is small, quick, has good feet, while the other is just a beast.
"He can keep the ball, score goals and in the last few games, they've banged in goals for fun."
Asmir Begovic not ready to join Man City until after World Cup
Stoke City’s goal scoring goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has declared that he could have well been a Manchester City player instead this season with the Bosnian international having been primed for a move to Eastlands before Roberto Mancini was given the heave ho by the club’s Middle Eastern owners.
The 26 year old super stopper has been tipped for greatness, and it would surprise no one if he was playing for a bigger club sooner rather than later. And Begovic has left the door open for Man City to make a move for him either in January or in the summer by declaring in an interview with the Metro, ‘Could I still move to City? I really don’t know if negotiations between clubs are still ongoing. But for me probably the best thing would be to stay at Stoke until the end of the season as in that way I would be truly ready for World Cup in Brazil.’
Meanwhile the situation at City where England international Joe Hart has been benched in favour of Romanian keeper Costel Pantilimon means that the club will almost certainly be looking to bring in a new keeper in January, and a player with Premier League experience like Begovic cannot be overlooked for the role.
Manchester City consider transfer of 'new Arjen Robben' Richairo Zivkovic
Manchester City are looking at a Dutch-Serbian wonderkid dubbed the new Arjen Robben.
Richairo Zivkovic is impressing for Dutch club FC Groningen and has drawn comparisons with Bayern Munich's Holland international winger Robben.
The 17-year-old also attracted summer interest from Liverpool.
Groningen director Hans Nijland said in August: “All the top clubs in Holland want him but Liverpool are here every week too.
"They are watching him closely and very keen.”
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There are no City limits under Pellegrini says Demichelis
MARTIN DEMICHELIS says Manuel Pellegrini’s tactical expertise has turned Manchester City into serious Champions League contenders.
The City defender was a member of Pellegrini’s Malaga team which reached the quarter-finals last season, where they came within seconds of knocking out eventual finalists Borussia Dortmund.
City are through to the knockout stages of the competition for the first time and 32-year-old Argentinian Demichelis believes they can go a long way under Chilean tactician Pellegrini.
He said: “He is an expert in European competition. He can always find a way to win. He has a way of making sure his teams play in the free way he wants, that we play effective football and that we can challenge for important things.
“We are in a good place. The team are on a good path, we are gradually showing the style that the manager wants.
“It’s clear that City have players who unsettle the opposition, players who in any moment, in any yard of space, in any action, can score a goal. It’s a big worry for our opponents.”
Most of that certainty is down to the form of Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero, who have plundered 22 goals this season, putting the partnerships of Robin Van Persie-Wayne Rooney and Luis Suarez-Daniel Sturridge in the shade.
Negredo, who earned his ‘Beast’ nickname at former club Sevilla for his bustling, robust style, is proving the perfect foil for pin-up boy Aguero.
Negredo became the first Spanish player to score a Champions League hat-trick for a non-Spanish team as City swept through to the knockout stages with a 5-2 win over CSKA Moscow. Aguero scored the other two goals.
Negredo, who has nine to Aguero’s 13, said: “The partnership with Sergio has been very good from the first day. With both of us speaking Spanish, we understand each other well. He’s a great player, and with great players it’s easy to get along.
“It’s an honour to become the first Spanish player to get a hat-trick for a non-Spanish team particularly here at City because people are treating me very well.
“I am delighted to get three so quickly and let’s hope I can get a lot more – that would be a good sign for everybody. The most important thing is that they help the team.”
City have hit 46 goals in only 16 matches in all competitions this season – an average of nearly three a game – and Negredo says there are plenty more to come as they evolve under Pellegrini.
He added: “It’s down to the type of players we’ve got. They have a lot of movement, they are not static. Movement does a lot, it unsettles the other team. We are doing it well.”
After failing at the group stage hurdle for the last two seasons, Negredo admits it is a huge relief for City to be through and hinted the last 16 is not the summit of their ambitions.
“Qualifying for the next stage was the most important thing and we have now achieved it with two games to spare,” he said.
“But a big club like this has to aim high. The team failed in the last two seasons, we didn’t want the same again.”
The one worry for City ahead of Sunday’s trip to Sunderland is that playmaker David Silva was having some treatment yesterday on a knock that forced him off in the CSKA game.
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[/spoiler]Sporting Lisbon have placed a £6m price-tag on Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham target Diego Capel, 25. Daily Express
Everton, Hull and Crystal Palace have joined Newcastle in the race for Manchester City midfielder Abdisalam Ibrahim, 22. Daily Star
Manchester United are lining up Sevilla's Alberto Moreno, 21, as a replacement for left-back Patrice Evra, 32. Daily Express
Valencia midfielder Ever Banega, 25, has confirmed he wants to move in the January transfer window, with Manchester United, Arsenal and Southampton all believed to be interested in the Argentina international. Daily Express
Napoli manager Rafael Benitez is eyeing up a raid on his former club Chelsea for Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta, 24. Daily Star
Benitez is also planning to ask another of his ex-clubs Liverpool to open talks on a deal for midfielder Lucas, 26. Sun
Nathan Dyer, 25, has called on Austrian referee Robert Schorgenhofer to deal with any racist chants when Swansea City take on Kuban Krasnodar in Russia on Thursday night. DSSC
Former Arsenal winger Robert Pires will join Hernan Crespo, Freddie Ljungberg, Dwight Yorke and Louis Saha on the shortlist for the Indian Super League next year
Aston Villa forward Gabriel Agbonlahor, 27, is keen to sign a new deal beyond his current contract, which expires in the summer of 2015. Birmingham Mail
Celtic supporters were reportedly attacked by hooligans armed with pickaxes while drinking in Amsterdam's Red Light district on Wednesday ahead of the club's Champions League game against Ajax. DSSC
Manchester United manager David Moyes is likely to tell winger Ashley Young, 28, to curb his tendency to dive. The Guardian
Former Arsenal and France winger Robert Pires, 40, says he is on a shortlist to take part in the planned Indian Super League next year. ESPN
Spartak Moscow are lining up a lucrative new contract for Everton target Aiden McGeady, 27, in a bid to keep him in Russia. talkSHIT
Hibernian's players will enjoy working under new manager Terry Butcher, 54, says Eric Black - who once made the former England defender his number two at Motherwell. Daily Record
Stoke striker Peter Crouch, 32, is confident new manager Mark Hughes will be a success at the Britannia Stadium. Stoke Sentinel
Schalke midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, 26, says his time at Tottenham was a failure because he could not deal with his new-found wealth. Metro
Third division Brazilian side Madureira's decision to release a new kit featuring the face of Che Guevara has resulted in record replica shirt sales. Daily Mirror
Queen's Roger Taylor to appear on Football Focus with Chelsea's Petr Cech this Saturday, 12.10pm, BBC1.
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