Football: Nicolas Otamendi welcomes increased competition at Manchester City

Manchester City Nicolas Otamendi gestures after scoring a goal against Real Madrid in second half action of their International Champions Cup soccer match at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, USA on July 26, 2017. PHOTO: EPA

ENGLAND (REUTERS) - Manchester City's new signings will increase competition for first-team places and motivate every player to give their 100 per cent, centre-back Nicolas Otamendi has said.

After a trophyless campaign, City have splurged in the transfer window, signing six players including defenders Kyle Walker, Danilo and Benjamin Mendy.

"It's always positive when there's this much competition," Otamendi told reporters.

"It doesn't allow for any of the players to relax, you always have to give 100 per cent.

"It makes it complicated to choose the starting XI, but that's why we need to have a strong pre-season.

"This season, obviously we've got good quality players and that's always a great thing to have. The ultimate goal is to get titles. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do that last season so that's a big goal for us."

Argentinian defender Otamendi said there was no bad blood between him and City team-mate Gabriel Jesus after the Brazilian forward suffered a broken eye socket when the duo collided during an international friendly in June.

"It's all good with Gabriel. We had a great game and I actually spoke to him in the locker room after the game," Otamendi added.

"We're all good as team-mates - we're used to being able to compete tough on the field and obviously it didn't work out for him. But it's good."

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