Man City Santa Cruz set to join Botafogo

Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz is on the verge of joining Botafogo, after spending the season on loan at Malaga.

The 31-year-old Paraguay international has been deemed surplus to requirements at the Etihad stadium. He has had loan spells with Blackburn and Betis before moving to Malaga on a season-long deal, where he scored just 5 goals in 26 appearances. His current deal is set to expire at the end of the season and Santa Cruz is considering options available to him.

Santa Cruz’s agent Robson Lima revealed the striker is interested in moving to Botafogo and the deal could be signed by the end of the week. He said: “The situation is calm, the player wants to play for Botafogo and the club is interested in signing him. There is no mystery at all. Hopefully a deal is concluded this week. We had a meeting on Friday, his father is very satisfied and so is the agent in Europe.

“You can see that Botafogo are a very serious football club, they have returned to a winning club again and the situation is very calm. He really wants to play for Botafogo. The formal situation already favours that he comes here. The Brazilian market currently attracts any great player. We have a solution within the next days,” he added.