MANCHESTER CITY expect to complete their protracted pursuit of Roque Santa Cruz on Monday providing there are no serious concerns over the Blackburn forward’s knee problem.

City have agreed to pay around €19.5 million for the Paraguay international, who is due to undergo a medical while on holiday this weekend.

Santa Cruz had knee surgery in April and has not played since March. City remain keen on Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez and the Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o.

Roberto Martinez has made his first signing as Wigan Athletic manager after completing a €2 million deal for the Espanyol midfielder Jordi Gomez. The 24-year-old flourished under the Spaniard at Swansea City, where he spent last season on loan and scored 14 goals in 51 appearances for the English Championship club.

The David Villa sag took another twist yesterday when Valencia, who have been desperately trying to sell the striker, declared he was not for sale after all.

Villa’s agent, Jose Luis Tamargo, met Valencia hoping finally to secure a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona but instead emerged to reveal that the club had decided that the Spain international is going nowhere. Valencia’s president, Manuel Llorente, said he would consider only a “scandalously scandalous” offer.

Arsenal have completed the signing of Belgium defender Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax.

Vermaelen (23), joined Ajax in 2004 and has made over 100 appearances for the Dutch club.

The undisclosed fee is reported to have been in the region of €11.8 million.

Vermaelen said on www.arsenal.com: “Arsenal is a great club with a world class manager, high quality players and a fantastic stadium.

“Everything is set up for Arsenal to be very successful for years to come and I joined this club because I know Arsenal will be challenging for trophies.”

Nicolas Burdisso’s agent has distanced his client from reports suggesting he could join Chelsea this summer.

Speculation has surfaced claiming the Inter Milan centre-half could be used as a makeweight in the Italian club’s pursuit of Chelsea duo Deco and Ricardo Carvalho.

However, Burdisso’s representative insists there is no substance to the rumours and claims there has been no contact with the Stamford Bridge outfit.

“We know nothing about it,” Fernando Hidalgo said. “Inter have not communicated anything to us on this matter and every day there is always room for fantasy in the papers.”

Burdisso has been with Inter since completing a switch from Boca Juniors in 2004 and Hidalgo insists the defender has given no indication that he is looking to move on.

“I hear from him daily, but we do not chat about non-existent things,” he added. “Nicolas has said time and again that he wants to stay at Inter. If something new will come up, we will evaluate it. But, to date, there is nothing.”

Birmingham are set to complete the capture of record signing Christian Benitez early next week.

The 23-year-old Ecuador striker is due to fly in and undergo a medical at St Andrew’s before putting pen to paper in a deal which will cost an initial €7.5 million but could eventually rise to €10.6 million.

The Santos Laguna player has averaged more than a goal every other game for his club. Guardian Service