(Reuters) - Manchester City have signed Spanish midfielder Nico Gonzalez from Primeira Liga side Porto on a four-and-a-half-year contract, the Premier League club announced on Monday.
City have paid 60 million euros ($62.06 million) for the 23-year-old, a club source said.
A product of the Barcelona youth academy, Gonzalez made 37 appearances for the LaLiga giants before moving to Porto in 2023. He played 68 times for Porto, scoring nine goals and assists each. He was also an under-21 international.
"It was a difficult transfer to complete because his performances have been outstanding, and he has been such an important part of what FC Porto are doing this season," City Director of Football Txiki Begiristain said in a club statement.
"We are really happy we have managed to get this done before the window closed."
Gonzalez becomes City's fourth signing of the January transfer window after the arrivals of centre backs Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis plus Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush.
Premier League champions City, who lost Ballon d'Or winner Rodri to a anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in September, are fifth in the English top-flight table.
Having suffered a 5-1 thrashing at rivals Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday, City trail leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand, by 15 points and next face English third-tier club Leyton Orient in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.
($1 = 0.9668 euros)
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Goa; Additional reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
