www.guardian.co.uk• Serbia left-back has been likened to Roberto Carlos
Manchester City are on the verge of taking their summer spending close to £80m after Lazio accepted a £17m bid for the Serbia international Aleksandar Kolarov today.
Kolarov is an attacking left-back renowned for his powerful shooting and ability from set pieces – his style has seen him being labelled as the Serbian Roberto Carlos – and he has been identified to take over from Wayne Bridge in a new-look defence also featuring Jerome Boateng, the £10.5m recruit from Hamburg.
Bridge has not convinced the City manager, Roberto Mancini, that he is good enough for a team that aspires to challenge for the Premier League title in the coming season and the former England international can expect to start on the bench if the 24-year-old Kolarov agrees to become the club's fourth signing of the summer.
Real Madrid, Juventus and Internazionale have also approached Lazio but City are the only club to have reached an agreement and are hopeful Kolarov, who played in two of Serbia's group games in the World Cup, will not be deterred by the fact that his potential new employer will not be involved in the Champions League. If everything goes according to plan, he should take his medical in the coming days and will link up with the rest of Mancini's squad on their pre-season trip to the United States.
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