Malaga have reached an agreement with Manchester City to take Ecuador striker Felipe Caicedo on loan for the remainder of the season, the Primera Division club announced today.

Malaga have reached an agreement with Manchester City to take Ecuador striker Felipe Caicedo on loan for the remainder of the season, the Primera Division club announced today.

The 21-year-old Caicedo, who has already passed his medical with Malaga, had been on loan from City at Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon since the start of this season.

Malaga are currently third from bottom in the Primera Division standings and two points adrift of safety ahead of tomorrow's home match with Athletic Bilbao.

mfl

Caicedo joined City from Swiss side Basle in January 2008 and last season he made 25 appearances in all competitions for the Barclays Premier League outfit, scoring seven goals.

However, with the arrivals of Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz last summer Caicedo's opportunities for first-team football at Eastlands took a hit and he agreed to join Sporting on a season-long loan.

Caicedo made seven league appearances for Sporting this season and a further three in the Europa League.

end

(re-opens)

Caicedo trained alongside his new Malaga team-mates for the first time today but he will not play any part in tomorrow's home clash with Athletic.

Coach Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz said of Caicedo: "He's had a different training session (to the other players), he's gone days without training and will be gradually incorporated into the group.

"The important thing is that he integrates as quickly as possible."