Manchester City will become the Barclays Premier League’s biggest summer spenders this week as Sven-Göran Eriksson’s pursuit of overseas players continues. Mark Bresciano, the Australia midfield player, is expected to complete his £4 million move from Palermo today and may be joined by Marco Amelia, the £5 million-rated Livorno and Italy goalkeeper, unless Eriksson can persuade Liverpool to part with Scott Carson.

The City manager is prepared to pay £6 million for Carson, but a permanent deal would appear unlikely given that David Martin, a 21-year-old with no first-team experience, represents the only cover for José Manuel Reina at Anfield after Jerzy Dudek joined Real Madrid.

City’s need for a new goalkeeper became more pressing after Andreas Isaksson, the Sweden No 1, was ruled out for up to six weeks with a broken thumb. With Joe Hart nursing a damaged finger, Kasper Schmeichel, son of Peter Schmeichel, the former Denmark goalkeeper, who became a hero on both sides of Manchester, started in the 1-0 friendly defeat at home to Valencia at the weekend.

Eriksson is confident that Hart will be fit to start the opening Premier League match of the season, away to West Ham United on Saturday, but while the manager has no concerns about handing the 20-year-old his second first-team start at Upton Park, he would prefer to have in another goalkeeper before then.

It makes a move for Amelia likely. The 25-year-old was part of Italy’s World Cup-winning squad last summer and is understudy to Gianluigi Buffon in the national team after the retirement of Angelo Peruzzi.

Coupled with the signing of Bresciano, a 27-year-old midfield player with nine goals in 37 appearances for Australia, the arrival of Amelia or Carson would take City’s spending in less than a month past £45 million.

Manchester United have spent more, but only a shade more than half of the £67.9 million that the champions have committed for Owen Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson and Carlos Tévez has been paid up front, making City’s net outlay this summer the biggest in the Premier League.

United and Liverpool’s respective net outlays of £18.8 million and £18.3 million are about half of City’s, which, including the expected arrival of a new goalkeeper, will be £40.9 million after the £5.8 million departure of Joey Barton to Newcastle United.

Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, has said that the organisation would review its position on Thaksin Shinawatra, City’s controversial new owner, if the Government ruled that the former Prime Minister of Thailand was “not suitable to have investment in this country”. Thaksin denies a series of corruption charges in his homeland.