Manchester City confirm signing of Eliaquim Mangala from Porto
The manager hopes Mangala, 23, will play alongside the captain, Vincent Kompany, with Martín Demichelis and Matija Nastasic providing competition.
Mangala said: "City is a top club in Europe. For me, it was an important step to leave Porto and join Manchester City in order to continue my progress. I want to win titles and I believe I can do this. I am ambitious and this is why I am here.
"I'm very happy to come to England because for me, the Premier League is the best league in the world. It is a very intense and very aggressive competition. There are plenty of goals, so it is also really nice to watch and I can't wait to get started."
Mangala, a member of France's Brazil 2014 squad, is already familiar with some of his new team-mates. "The fact that Fernando is here is better because I played with him at Porto but there is also other players that I know like [Bacary] Sagna, [Gaël] Clichy and [Samir] Nasri."
Pellegrini said: "I'm delighted to have added a player of Eliaquim's quality in the squad ahead of the new season. He is already a fine player but in my opinion, he has all of the mental, physical, technical and tactical attributes to become one of Europe's very best defenders.
"Eliaquim is a player I believe will make an immediate impact in the Premier League, thanks to his physicality, his reading of the game and quality on the ball. I think he will prove to be a great signing for us."
Mangala's arrival ends a saga that began in January when a proposed deal fell through. He may also have joined the champions at the end of last season but stated he wanted to wait until after the World Cup, the Guardian reports.
