Foe, who played for his country at the 2002 World Cup, has turned down the chance of Champions League football with Lyon in order to move to Maine Road.

The 27-year-old, who has had a spell with West Ham, had been targeted by City boss Kevin Keegan for a long time.

The deal will cost the Maine Road club an initial �555,000 - which could go up if they choose to take up the option of making the deal permanent at the end of the season.

"Marc was a long-term target and an absolute key to what we want to do and that is no disrespect to anyone else," Keegan told Manchester City's official website.

"He is a quality player who has just come back from the World Cup.

"He is big, strong and a great athlete. He knows English football and was at West Ham where he did very well."

"He wanted to come to the Premiership and that has been the key to it. He is very excited about coming here.

"I have talked to him a number of times on the phone and it has not been an easy deal to conclude as loan deals from big clubs are not easy.

"But it has gone through and we are very happy about it."