Gallagheresque was delighted to announce the signing of Alvaro Negredo about 2 days ago, he becomes the Club’s third new recruit of the summer.

The Spanish international follows Jesus Navas in making the switch from Sevilla.

He will join up with the squad on the pre-season tour, and wear the number 9 shirt (buy the Negredo shirt here).

Recognised as one of La Liga’s most potent strikers in recent years, the 27-year old was fourth top scorer in Spain last season with 25 league goals, trailing only Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Radamel Falcao Garcia.

A graduate of Rayo Vallecano’s youth academy, the 6"1' forward only made a handful of appearances for the then-third division outfit before Real Madrid opted to take him across the Spanish capital in 2005.

Although the Madrid-born Negredo never played a game at first-team level at the Santiago Bernabeu, he did feature regularly for a B team which included Javi Garcia, Juan Mata and Alvaro Arbeloa.

Negredo1

After two years at Real, the opportunity for regular top-flight football arrived with Almeria in 2007 and Negredo quickly became a fans' favourite in Andalusia, hitting 32 goals in his two seasons at the club.

Sevilla smashed their transfer record to take Alvaro to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in 2009 and were repaid handsomely to the tune of 70 goals in 139 appearances over four seasons.

Negredo made his international debut as a substitute for Fernando Torres in Spain’s 2-1 win over Armenia in World Cup qualifying on 6 October 2009.

His first international goals arrived as a pair against Edin Dzeko’s Bosnia a few days later in the 5-2 win in Zenica – the striker also weighed in with two assists.

Negredo was an integral member of the Sevilla squad that went on to defy the odds and lift the 2010 Copa del Rey, defeating Sergio Aguero’s Atletico Madrid in the final, thanks to a Jesus Navas goal in injury time.

Despite his impressive exploits at club level, Alvaro was overlooked for World Cup selection in 2010 but he was named in the Euro 2012 squad and made two appearances, including a start in the semi-final against Portugal before La Roja went on to retain the trophy in Kiev.

Negredo has won 14 caps and scored six goals so far in his international career.

His final game for mid-table Sevilla was the 4-3 win over Valencia on 1 June 2013, a game in which Negredo scored all four goals - not a bad way to sign off!