Manchester, August 25: Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo on Thursday joined English football club Manchester City from Spanish giants FC Barcelona after signing a four-year deal.
Bravo brings with him a wealth of experience including back-to-back La Liga titles with Barcelona and successive Copa America triumphs with Chile with whom the 33 year-old has won 106 caps and also the captain.
He won his 100th international cap in the Copa America Centenario as Chile beat Argentina in the final on penalties and is the first Chilean to win a century of caps.
Born in Viluco, Chile, Bravo started his career with Colo-Colo, making 123 appearances between 2002 and 2006 before joining Spain's Real Sociedad.
Bravo remained there for eight years, racking up 237 starts.
He moved to Barcelona in 2014 and has won eight different title in just two years with the Catalans, playing 75 games and being named in the 2014-15 La Liga Team of the Season.He was also voted Copa America's best goalkeeper in 2015 and 2016 as well as earning a place in the Team of the Tournament each time.
Bravo said in a release: “I'm very proud to be joining Manchester City. I know the Club is building something very special and I hope I can be part of many successes in the coming years."
“I have followed City's progress in recent years and obviously know some of my new team-mates from the Copa America."
“It is not easy to leave a club like Barcelona where I had two fantastic years, but the opportunity to work with Pep Guardiola was too good to refuse. Now I will challenge the other great goalkeepers the Club has and together I hope we can win many trophies,” he added.
City coach Guardiola added: “Claudio is a fantastic goalkeeper and an excellent addition to our squad."
“He has experience and great leadership qualities and is in the prime of his life. He is a goalkeeper I have admired for a number of years and I'm really happy he is now a City player.”
