Last updated on .From the section Football

Santa Cruz has not scored a club goal since March 2010

Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz has joined Spanish side Real Betis on a season-long loan.

The recently-promoted Primera Liga side announced the deal for the 30-year-old on their official website external-link .

The Paraguay international spent the second half of last season on loan at his former club Blackburn after falling down the pecking order under the management of Roberto Mancini.

Santa Cruz joined City from Rovers in the summer of 2009.

He was signed for City by his former Rovers boss Mark Hughes, but struggled with injury early in his City career, and did not score his first league goals for the club until December 2009 in the 4-3 win over Sunderland, which proved to be Hughes's last game in charge.

His appearances under Mancini have been restricted and, in total, he has started only eight games for City in his two years at Etihad Stadium, scoring four goals.

He failed to rediscover his form when he returned to Ewood Park last season and did not score in 10 appearances for Rovers.

Santa Cruz, who has won 87 international caps, was part of the squad which reached the Copa America final this summer, but missed the defeat by Uruguay in the final because of injury.

Manchester City have also reached an agreement to loan Slovakian winger Vladimir Weiss to Spanish side Espanyol for the rest of the season.