Australian international Aaron Mooy swaps Melbourne City for Manchester City

MANCHESTER CITY have signed Australian international Aaron Mooy from their sister club Melbourne City FC.

The 25-year-old midfielder becomes boss Pep Guardiola’s second signing following the £21million arrival of German ace Ilkay Gundogan.

Mooy has 16 Socceroos caps to his name and played in the 2-1 defeat against England in the friendly at the Stadium of Light in May.

A scorer of five international goals, Mooy has agreed a three-year deal at the Etihad after enjoying a record-breaking final season Down Under in the A-League.

He scored 11 goals and provided a league record 21 assists.

Mooy, who was also on the radar of new Rangers boss Brendan Rogers, was named Melbourne City’s Player of the Year in each of his two seasons after joining from fellow A-League side, Western Sydney Wanderers.

But this won’t be the first time Mooy has played club football here.

He spent four years in Bolton Wanderers’ youth academy without appearing in a first team game before signing for St Mirren in 2010.

During a mixed two seasons he made only 21 league appearances, and scored just one goal – against Rangers at the end of 2011- as he struggled with a back problem.

He then returned home and joined former Crystal Palace assistant manager Tony Popovic at Western Sydney Wanderers.

While Mooy moves to Manchester, Luke Brattan will be making the trip the other way, joining Melbourne City on loan from the Blues.

The defensive midfielder joined Manchester City in October 2015 from Brisbane Roar and spent time on loan at Bolton but did not make a competitive appearance for either side.

Meanwhile, Anthony Caceres, who joined Manchester City in January 2016 from another Aussie side, Central Coast Mariners, has extended his loan at Melbourne City until the end of the 2016/17 season.

The 23-year-old midfielder was immediately loaned to Melbourne City after sealing his transfer to the Blues.