Manchester City completed the signing of midfielder Matheus Nunes on Friday after agreeing to pay Wolverhampton a reported transfer fee of 53 million pounds ($67 million).
The Portugal international had been refusing to train with Wolves in an effort to force a move to City, which had a lower bid rejected last week.
He signed a five -year contract with City manager Pep Guardiola hoping to fortify the midfield.
The injured Kevin De Bruyne could be out for the next few months. City also lost Ilkay Gundogan, who joined Barcelona after his contract expired, and signed central midfielder Mateo Kovacic as a replacement.
However, that’s not a like-for-like replacement, with Kovacic operating in deeper areas than Gundogan, who often played as an attacking midfielder just off Erling Haaland.
The 25-year-old Nunes typically plays further forward than Kovacic so would offer something different to Guardio la.
Chelsea for their part, continued their spending spree with the signing of forward Cole Palmer from Manchester City on Friday for a reported transfer fee of at least 40 million pounds ($50.7 million).
The 21-year-old Palmer signed a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge in a deal that could cost Chelsea another 2.5 million pounds in add-ons.
Fair financial rules.
“I'm excited to get started and it feels great to sign,” Palmer said. “I've joined Chelsea because the project here sounds good and because of the pla tform I will have to try to showcase my talents.”
Palmer, who scored early season goals for City in the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup, was in search of regular playing time. The move also improves City's position under financial fair play rules.
He also helped England win the under-21 European Championship in July.
Chelsea has spent in excess of $1 billion in the past 16 months under new American ownership.
