Alvaro Negredo hopes the Manchester City fans will call him ‘the Beast’ after he helped rip Manchester United apart.
The 6ft 1in Negredo was nicknamed ‘the Beast of Vallecas’ by his team-mates in Spain after the tough district in Madrid where he was raised.
Now Negredo would love supporters of the Mancunian Blues to adopt his nickname.
“It makes me smile when they call me the Beast,” said the Spain striker, who cost £16.5million from Sevilla in the summer. “But, yes, I like to think that I’m a strong player, who can fight and be physical.
“It was my team-mates, who first started calling me the Beast of Vallecas. But it became so popular that the media in Spain also started to use the nickname as well.
“You should ask the fans what they think, but it’s a nickname I like.
“I hope they can call me that over here as well. Hopefully the way I played against United will convince them to do it and I would be happy if they did.
“I always enjoy a physical battle. Nemanja Vidic is a very strong player, very aggressive. But I enjoyed that sort of contact with an opponent.
“As long as opponents play fair, it’s not a problem to me, because I’m always ready for the challenge.”