Espanyol's Zabaleta has signed a five-year deal at the club after passing a medical at Eastlands and joins for an undisclosed fee.

Zabaleta was part of the Argentina squad that recently won gold at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes said in a statement on the club's official website: "He's young and a winner, with an Olympic gold medal to prove that, but more so he will provide us with great balance in the side.

"I'm very happy to bring him here and hopefully we can get a good result at Sunderland to round off what has been a very satisfactory week indeed for us."

lifelong dream

Zabaleta himself said of the move: "I am very happy to come here and play in the Premier League. Playing in England has been a lifelong dream which has finally come true by moving to City.

"I'd met him [Mark Hughes] previously and was really impressed with him, but having talked to him about Manchester City I had to come here and be part of his plans.

"I'm very confident of helping the first team to achieve their goals for the season and after walking around the stadium I can't wait to play in front of the City fans there. It is very impressive."

City have also confirmed the signing of Berti from FC Nuremburg. The 25-year-old Brazilian moves on a one-year deal after three years with the German club. Glauber is a centre-back who has Italian citizenship and one cap for Brazil.

www.mcfc.co.uk