Manchester City have completed the signing of Argentine defender Martin Demichelis from Atletico Madrid.

The Rojiblancos only signed the 32-year-old on a free transfer from fellow La Liga outfit Malaga seven weeks ago but he will now join the Citizens for a fee understood to be around £4.2m. Manuel Pellegrini's side were in the market for a centre-back as cover for the sidelined Vincent Kompany and Micah Richards.

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Martin Demichelis
MCFC

City had an agreement in principle with Atletico that Demichelis would be allowed to leave once Diego Simeone found a replacement and the Spaniards have since finalised a deal to bring in Belgian Toby Alderweireld from Ajax for £7m.

"Martin Demichelis has joined City from Atletico Madrid. The 32-year old defender has signed a two-year contract and will wear the No.26 shirt this season," read a statement on the club's website.

Before joining Malaga three years ago, Demichelis spent seven years at Bayern Munich - between 2003 and 2010 - making over 240 appearances for the club in all competitions and winning four Bundesliga titles and four German cups.

"I am delighted to have joined City because I am still hungry for success and want to improve. I have been in Europe for 11 years now and this was a great chance for me to play in the Premier League with such a big club," Demichelis said.

"When there is a change, there is always a process. There's always a period of adjustment you have to go through. Moving from South America to Europe is a big change and you need some time to settle in because everything is new. But in my case, I have lived in Europe for many years and I don't think there'll be any problems in adjusting to life here. Now I want to repay the manager's faith in me out on the pitch. I can't wait to get started," the defender added.

Demichelis played under Pellegrini during his time at both River Plate and Malaga.