Alvaro Negredo on why the Premier League is the perfect stage to showcase his talents "It's funny I have always liked the No 9, anyway, as a number," he said, "but I have the physique for it, the build, and I guess I fit the description of what would be the classic number nine, the big English centre-forward. When you look at the Premier League then I think it's a league that suits me because of my football style. There is a lot of effort, a lot of battling, in a good sense of the word - fighting for the ball, very competitive and physical - and I think these are important facets of my game. I think the football here suits me perfectly. Not that he is one-dimensional. "I can also vary my game," Negredo said. I can play up-front on my own as a lone striker, I can play with someone in behind me or quite often as a two with someone alongside me. What I do like is playing alongside someone who is a bit smaller, who is nippy, agile, speedy of thought and that person can benefit from any knock-downs, long balls and crosses, which I can provide for them. La fiera de Vallecas" - the beast of Vallecas, his nickname in Spain - had heard countless times over the years how he would be suited to play in England. However, he was hugely successful in his home country, amassing 102 goals in 209 La Liga games and leading the line for Seville for four years. There was no rush to leave. The goals, the forward play, the link-up with his team-mates, taking the hits, the physicality, and creating the chances, matter to Negredo. Such is his dedication to his craft that, sometimes, he will play as a goalkeeper in training. "Occasionally, I will go into goal just to know what it is like from a keeper's point of view, to see how they feel," he said. As a kid they tried to put me out on the wing but I didn't like that. The more time I can spend near the goal the better, even if I am playing in a five-a-side and there are only three other outfield players, then I stay as close to the opposition goal as possible. This summer, something changed. His time at Seville had run its course. I had been very, very happy in Seville for a long time but you know when you get the feeling that an era or a stage is coming to an end? Negredo said. And maybe that was the time for thinking about a move and certainly for years, many years, I'd been really interested in having a crack at the Premier League and then I heard about the interest from Manchester City and, obviously when a club like City come in for you with the project and the progress they have been making over the past few years, then you don't have to think twice. It was a very easy decision to make. The decision was made all the easier by the strong Spanish influence at City - Jesús Navas also joined from Seville with David Silva, Javi García and the Argentines, Pablo Zabaleta and Sergio Agüero, already at the club - along with Manuel Pellegrini, the new manager, with the Chilean arriving at the Etihad Stadium from Malaga. The pair's paths had crossed before - Negredo was a raw, young striker at Real Madrid when Pellegrini was the coach for a season. There was only one problem. "There were five strikers ahead of me: Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, Higuain, Van Nistelrooy and Huntelaar," Negredo recalls. "So he [Pellegrini] was honest and truthful and said "look you are going to get limited opportunities and I really want you for your development and progression as a footballer to play regularly," and that's why I went to Seville." Nevertheless, competition does not faze Negredo. He joined a Manchester City squad who already included Agüero and Edin Dzeko before Stevan Jovetic was also recruited. For Spain, he is vying with Roberto Soldado, Fernando Llorente, David Villa and, of course, Fernando Torres, who he will face at Stamford Bridge today when City play Chelsea, to be in Spain's World Cup squad. "We have this good little competition going on but the important thing is that the national team benefits," said Negredo, who has staked his claim with some powerful recent performances in qualification. He also brushes aside the fact that Chelsea have, in 64 matches, stretched over two periods, never lost a Premier League match at home under Jose Mourinho. "We say in Spain that stats are there to be shot down and broken," Negredo says. Given Negredo's burgeoning relationship with Agüero, Mourinho will be on guard at Stamford Bridge this afternoon. "It is always easy to strike up a good understanding with good players and the better the player, the easier it is," Negredo said. We never played together in the past but we do have a good understanding. That could be key to City's success this season. "The aim is to make City into a great and successful club and I don't think it is going to take that long, to be honest," Negredo insists. I think we are on the right road now. It's difficult, you come to a new country, there are different methods, different styles of football and ways of working, being at a Premier League club is obviously going to take time to adjust with new players and new signings and getting to know everyone. We have quality in the squad and certainly good enough players to be fighting for the league title. There are also so many cup competitions in England, so don't rule us out of that, either, but I suppose you measure yourself in the Champions League and I know for the past two seasons the club has struggled in that tournament. Now the objective and the aim is to get as far as we can. Do we feel pressure? The best way of growing a club - and the owners are aware of this - is by winning trophies, so that pressure is always evident. You get that at big clubs. Manchester City's community scheme, City in the Community (CITC), have announced a three-year partnership with ICP Networks. To celebrate, ICP donated 45 PC tablets to schools around Manchester. On Friday, Alvaro Negredo helped CITC staff deliver a Spanish lesson to children from Ashbury Meadows Primary School with the tablets.