Castillo pays fee to ensure City deal

Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Nery Castillo from Shakhtar Donetsk on a year-long loan deal. The Mexico forward only signed for the Ukrainian side in the summer in a 15m deal from the Greek club Olympiakos, but after failing to impress he will now join Sven Goran Eriksson's squad in January.

The 23-year-old scored four goals in his country's Copa America campaign earlier this year and is considered a bright prospect. The City chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, said: "Nery Castillo's desire to make this deal happen has been extraordinary.

"He has made a significant financial contribution in order to complete this move by paying most of the loan fee himself. This proves how much he wants to play for Manchester City in the Premier League.

"We are excited and delighted that another young, established international has joined the football club."

Elsewhere, the Newcastle manager, Sam Allardyce, may send Ben Tozer out on loan to a Championship club in January once his move from Swindon to the North-east is complete. The 17-year-old defender is close to completing a move to St James' Park, with the deal expected to be going through in the next couple of days.

The deal could eventually be worth around 1m to Swindon but Allardyce believes the player may need a loan spell in the second tier of English football.

"He is only 17 and he is obviously one for the future," Allardyce said. "And yes, there is a possibility Ben will be allowed to go out on loan. But first we want him to stay here for two or three weeks so that we can look at him and he can look at us."

Allardyce has dismissed reports linking the Magpies with the Ipswich striker Jonathan Walters. He said: "I had Jonathan with me at Bolton Wanderers and I am delighted that he is doing so well with Ipswich, but he is not someone I am looking to bring here."

Down south, Sulley Muntari has underlined his commitment to Portsmouth by insisting he is happy at Fratton Park and targeting European qualification.

Muntari, the South Coast club's summer signing from Udinese, has previously spoken of his ambition to play for a bigger club but his immediate aims are with Pompey.

The form of the 23-year-old has attracted reports of interest from clubs including Liverpool, but the Ghana international said: "I'm happy here and enjoying my football. I'm happy with the performances from me and the team.

"We're aiming for Europe because we have good players and a good manager," he added. "We have a way to go but we have the players, the ability everything you need to be there."