Samir Nasri has passes his medical at Manchester City and is expected to finalise his move from Arsenal on Wednesday.
With just the final point of his transfer from Arsenal needing to be tied up, it is understood the player's agent has flown in to complete a deal which got extremely close to being scrapped.
The transfer also adds to the astounding sum Sheikh Mansour has invested in City since he completed his buy-out four years ago.
This summer alone, the Italian has spent big on defensive duo Gael Clichy and Stefan Savic, in addition to splashing out a club record £38million on striker Sergio Aguero.
Nasri's arrival will swell his squad even further, and cause more head scratching amongst supporters in debates over what Mancini's preferred line-up is likely to be.
The whole selection issue would appear burdened with difficulty given the huge reputations involved.
Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy head a list of players already told they have no future at City - but have thus far resisted the temptation to leave - and even then Mancini will have far too many players for the available places in his team.
However, after starting the league campaign with two remarkable wins, Mancini only needs to think about tomorrow's Champions League group stage draw, when City are set to be named amongst the third seeds.
On Saturday he will discover who his side's opponents will be in the Carling Cup third round to know why such options are essential.
"It is no problem for me," he told www.mcfc.co.uk.
"The problem is if you don't have good players.
"For the manager it is not easy because all the players want to play every game.
"But when you play in four competitions and have a match every three days, there is space for everyone.
"Sometimes it is important that you rest. It is impossible to play a top game every three days.
"And the Champions League is very hard. It is different from the Europa League.
"For this we need a good team, with good players and a good mentality."
