Eriksson spending spree continues

LONDON, England -- Manchester City's frenetic summer spending under Sven-Goran Eriksson continued on Thursday with a triple swoop for Brazil midfielder Elano from Shakhtar Donesk and defenders Javier Garrido from Real Sociedad and Dinamo Zagreb's Vedran Corluka.

The former England manager has now signed seven players since he took over at Eastlands last month following the purchase of the Premier League club by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The trio join Rolando Bianchi, Martin Petrov, Gelson Fernandes and Geovanni at City in Eriksson's dramatic overhaul of a squad which flirted with relegation last season under former manager Stuart Pearce.

Elano, who is tipped to be a regular in the Brazilian team in the future, has been signed for a reported fee of $16 million.

A member of Brazil's Copa America-winning squad in July, the 26-year-old has penned a four-year contract.

He caught the eye when scoring twice for Brazil in their 3-0 friendly win over Argentina at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium last September.

Garrido, 22, a versatile player who can also play in midfield, has agreed a four-year deal after the Swede paid the Spanish club $3 million.

The transfer was confirmed in a statement on the Real Sociedad club Web site.

"Real Sociedad and Manchester City have reached an agreement for the transfer of Javier Garrido to the English club. "Real Sociedad want to express their public recognition of Javi Garrido for the professionalism and commitment he has shown throughout his time at our club," it read.

Croatian international Corluka, who has nine caps, joins for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in the region of $15 million.

And the spending is set to continue, with Eriksson still chasing Bulgarian international striker Valeri Bojinov, who is currently with Fiorentina in Serie A.

The signings take Eriksson's spending close to $50 million dollars, but he is set to recoup some of the outlay by offloading Greek international striker Georgios Samarias who has failed to live up to $12 million price tag.

Former England international striker Darius Vassell is also likely to leave City as Eriksson banks on foreign imports with little experience of the English Premier League.

England international midfielder Joey Barton left the club to join Newcastle for $12 million before Eriksson took the reins. E-mail to a friend