Fiorentina agree to sell Jovetic to Man City

MILAN, July 18 (Reuters) - Fiorentina have agreed a deal to sell Montenegro forward Stevan Jovetic to Manchester City, the Serie A club said on Thursday.

The Italian club's official Twitter feed said there had been "agreement reached with Manchester City Football Club for the definitive transfer of the player Stevan Jovetic".

British media estimated the transfer fee would be 28 million pounds ($42.56 million) for the former Partizan Belgrade captain who joined Fiore in 2008 for a reported eight million pounds.

The 23-year-old Jovetic scored 13 goals in 31 league games last term to help Fiorentina finish fourth as they just missed out on a Champions League place to AC Milan on the final day.

The Montenegrin, nicknamed Jo-Jo by the Fiorentina fans, had been the subject of transfer speculation for several months and was also linked to Italian champions Juventus.

He missed the whole of the 2010-11 campaign after damaging cruciate knee ligaments in pre-season training but returned to score 14 goals in 27 Serie A matches the following year.

The six foot one inch Jovetic, who can play as a central striker but prefers a slightly deeper role behind the centre-forward, has scored 10 goals in 27 games for Montenegro.

City are rebuilding after losing their Premier League title to rivals Manchester United last season, which led to the sacking of manager Roberto Mancini and the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini.

They have bought Brazil midfielder Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk and Sevilla's Spain winger Jesus Navas while also agreeing a deal with the Spanish club for Spain striker Alvaro Negredo. City's Argentina striker Carlos Tevez left to join Juve last month.