The Paraguayan hitman passed a lengthy medical with the Eastlands outfit and has now signed a deal to link up once more with City boss Mark Hughes, his former manager at Ewood Park.

Hughes has never made any secret of his desire to have Santa Cruz at City and having assured themselves the knee injury that kept the South American out at the end of last season has fully cleared up, the Blues have completed the signing of the striker.

Santa Cruz is the second big-money arrival at Eastlands of the summer after Hughes captured Gareth Barry from Aston Villa for £12million.

The striker's length of contract with City has not been disclosed.

Despite the improvement of Felipe Caicedo during the final few weeks of last season, City were desperately in need of a senior striker to bring the best out of Stephen Ireland, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Robinho, who continues to be linked with Barcelona.

Having brought the 27-year-old from Bayern Munich during his Blackburn days, Hughes knew exactly what Santa Cruz could bring to him team and after missing out on the player during the last two transfer windows, he was quick to make contact with Rovers counterpart Sam Allardyce with another offer, which this time was accepted.

Although he managed just four Premier League goals last term, the memory of his 23 in 43 appearances during his first season at Ewood Park is still strong and Santa Cruz is expected to clock up a third World Cup finals campaign with Paraguay next summer.