City are near to completing the signing of Negredo from Seville, a deal for the striker that would take the club’s summer spending to approaching £70m on three players

Manchester City were close to a £23.8 million deal for Álvaro Negredo last night as a replacement for Carlos Tévez.

The club are in pole position to make the Seville striker, 27, their third summer signing after the arrival of Jesús Navas, the winger, and Fernandinho, the Brazil midfielder, for a combined £45.9 million.

Negredo’s expected arrival would take City’s spending to almost £70 million, although they brought in £7.7 million from the sale of Tévez, the Argentina striker, to Juventus.

City were originally pursuing Edinson Cavani, but the £53 million buyout clause in the Napoli striker’s contract, coupled with the sacking of Roberto Mancini as manager in May, prompted them to pursue alternatives.

City also want to sign Pepe, the Portugal defender-cum-midfielder, from Real