Sven hails elegant Corluka

Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson believes Vedran Corluka has all the attributes required to be a successful modern-day defender.

Corluka, 21, joined the Citizens in a deal reported to be around the £8million mark in the summer from Dynamo Zagreb.

And Eriksson has been impressed by the technical ability of the Croatia international defender, who has made 15 appearances for his new club.

"Vedran is not an aggressive type defender but elegant," Eriksson told the club's official website.

"Despite his age he knows how to solve problems and reads the game so well.

"I don't like to see us just hitting balls up to the strikers. One and two touch football, accurate passing and keeping possession are all things we work on constantly.

"I don't know what his best position is, but I would say he would be a very good centre-half.

"I think the future is to have footballers at the heart of the defence not just big, strong centre halves that are technically not that good.

"The ideal is to have two tough tacklers and headers of the ball who can also play football when they have it at their feet."