On September 1, 2008, the summer transfer window was preparing to slide itself gently shut. What happened next will forever be etched in the memories of Manchester City supporters as the day that shaped their future.
With the club in a financially precarious position and his assets frozen by the Thai banks, Thaksin Shinawatra sold the club, out of the blue, to an unknown Arab investment company Abu Dhabi United Group. In the space of 10 hours, the Eastlands club were the subject of one of the biggest takeovers in Premier League history.
Without hesitation, the takeover was followed with a flurry of bids for high-profile players. First, lodging a cheeky bid with Tottenham to upstage Dimitar Berbatov’s move to Manchester United, before breaking the British transfer record by signing Brazilian international Robinho from Real Madrid for a reported £32.5 million.
The Sheikh Mansour-owned Manchester City have since spent a staggering £930.4 million on player transfers, turning themselves into genuine Premier League title contenders and a force to be reckoned with. Here are 10 of their most expensive signings over the years:
#10 Yaya Toure - €30.00 million
Can he play as one of the two deep-lying central midfielders, or is he better off in the free role further up the pitch? Has he become just lazy or a player seriously on the decline, edging towards a move to China or the MLS? One of the most intensely debated topics at Manchester City in recent years has always been the role of Yaya Toure.
"There isn't another Yaya," former City boss Roberto Mancini once said. It is a reflection of what Toure has been and of what he represents – arguably the most significant player in City’s rise.
Back in 2010, City were still the perennial underachievers when former chief executive Garry Cook brought the Ivorian to east Manchester from Barcelona. Toure’s arrival was the catalyst for a period of huge success, the spark needed to become a force in English football. Power, set-piece prowess and incredibly accurate passing abilities – Toure proved himself to be the final piece in Sheikh Mansour’s jigsaw.
Toure’s winner in the 1-0 win over Manchester United in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final was central to City ending a 35-year drought for a major piece of silverware. A title triumph 12 months later saw them snapping the stranglehold of the ‘Big Four’ on the Premier League.
Another FA Cup, another league title and two Capital One Cups have since followed with Toure being a prominent figure through all of it.
#9 Eliaquim Mangala - €30.50 million
When Manchester City’s spending was restricted by an FFP penalty, they must be wondering why on earth they spent €30.50 million on Eliaquim Mangala of all people! The French international arrived from Porto with a big reputation and a hefty price tag, but what has followed since been nothing but a struggle.
A solid performance against Chelsea on his debut reassured the fans’ trust in the City board’s decision to splurge for the defender’s signature. But that, sadly, was the end of it all. What has followed since has been nothing but a rollercoaster with Mangala enduring a nightmare performance at Hull the following week.
Heading into his own net under little pressure, Mangala couldn’t have imagined his calamitous day getting any worse, not until he was penalised for a horrible high footed challenge on Abel Hernandez.
Mangala’s diabolical positioning sense and vulnerability with the ball at his feet have been caught out far often than not, directly resulting in him being responsible for way too many key defensive errors. A strong and powerful presence, Mangala has age on his side and can yet go on to prove his credentials.
Though, whether it’s at City still or somewhere else remains to be seen.
#8 Wilfried Bony - €32.30 million
It is often said that January is a bad time to do transfer business. Either prices are massively inflated or you’re getting your hands on players other clubs don’t want. Big money buys have struggled to make an impact and one of the most prominent names on that list is Wilfried Bony.
With Sergio Aguero’s repeated injury troubles, Alvaro Negredo’s ill-timed loan move and Edin Dzeko’s indifferent form, Pellegrini was forced to dip into the 2015 January transfer market for a striker to help keep pace with league leaders Chelsea.
£28m Swansea man Wilfried Bony, who had been ruthless in front of the goal for the Welsh club since his move from Dutch football, was supposed to be the answer to City’s problems.
However, a delayed start to his career in Eastlands caused by African Cup of Nations commitments, followed by injury troubles, restricted the Ivorian to just two starts and nine substitute appearances during his first season at the Etihad.
With just 4 goals in 26 appearances, a first full season didn’t fare any better for Bony with him being unable to nail down a starting spot under Pellegrini in a stuttering league campaign for City. He has since been clubbed among other ‘big-money flops’, with a return back to Swansea being rumoured likely.
#7 Edin Dzeko - €37.00 million
There is no doubt that Edin Dzeko has played a crucial role in Manchester City’s recent success, particularly the two Premier League title triumphs in 2012 and 2014. Often overshadowed by that Aguero moment, it is sometimes forgotten that it was Dzeko’s 90th-minute header that actually kick-started the hopes of an unlikely comeback.
But despite this, the Bosnian international divides opinion amongst the City supporters quite like no other due to his wild fluctuations in form. At his best, he is on par with any other centre-forward in the world, a world beater. At worst, he can be a total liability.
After heavy speculation during the January transfer window of 2011, Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager confirmed that the club had agreed a deal to sign Wolfsburg’s then top league goal scorer, Edin Dzeko. The transfer fee broke the Bundesliga record departure fee, Bosnian record transfer fee and was the highest amount paid for any player from ex-Yugoslavia at that time.
Setting up Yaya Toure on his debut, Dzeko scored his first goal in an FA Cup tie at Notts County to secure a replay, a tournament City ended up winning, ending a 35-year trophy drought.
An incredible four goals in a 5-1 thrashing of Spurs at the White Hart Lane, a brace in the 6-1 humiliation of rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford, a crucial winner away at Blackburn Rovers – Dzeko became renowned as the scorer of “heavy goals”, stepping up when needed the most.
Following the signing of Wilfried Bony, an out-of-form Dzeko’s place in the squad came under apparent threat after a string of 15 consecutive matches without scoring a goal. Loaned out to AS Roma by Manuel Pellegrini in 2015, Dzeko ended up signing for the Italian club permanently once the buy-back clause in his contract was activated.
#6 Fernandinho - €40.00 million
Among the other high-profile names in this list, one name stands out – Fernando Luiz Roza, or simply Fernandinho. There were naturally a lot of doubts prevailing when Manchester City decided to splurge £34 million for the Brazilian, an expensive investment for a player who just turned 28.
But three years on, now at 31, Fernandinho has all but eradicated those fears. Having been over-reliant on Yaya Toure and both Gareth Barry and Javi Garcia too one-paced, City’s midfield was often over-run at times. In came a midfield powerhouse in the form of Shakhtar Donetsk man Fernandinho.
Covering the ground at speed, Fernandinho is a complete nightmare for the opposition.
In the modern day football, where having a quality defensive midfielder is almost mandatory, Fernandinho’s excellent positing and tackling abilities allow for him to form a splendid central midfield duo with Yaya Toure.
Not the most attractive of Manchester City’s recent signings, but Fernandinho is certainly one of the best signings the club has made, for not many can embrace the defensive midfielder role as flawlessly as the Brazilian international.
#5 Sergio Aguero – €40.00 million
There isn’t a better striker in the Premier League than a fit and fine Sergio Aguero. That is one fact which is hardly disputable. 136 goals in 208 outings for Manchester City and still in the prime of his career, there is no saying how high Kun could end up if a list of the greatest players to grace the Premier League is ever accumulated.
City paid a hefty price to Atletico Madrid - €45 million – for the ever smiling Argentine’s service back in the summer of 2011 but he didn’t waste any time in making an impression, two goals and an assist on debut in a 4-0 win over Swansea City including a 30-yard belter. Fast forward five years and Aguero has hardly experienced a fallow period since.
Three 20+ goal seasons in five years, Aguero’s level of consistency is unmatched, with only repeated injuries hindering his progress. And of course, who can forget his dramatic stoppage-time winner against QPR to clinch a first title for City in 44 long years? Not a chance in a million years!
Whether he thrives under Pep Guardiola’s style of play next season remains to be seen, but there is no question that by the time he ends his career in England and heads back to his boyhood club Independiente, he will be not only be considered Manchester City’s greatest ever players, but one of the Premier League’s too.
#4 Robinho - €43.00 million
August 31, 2008 was a monumental day in the history of Manchester City. The events of that day would help shape what we know today as the dominant forces in English football. After the takeover by Sheikh Mansour and his relatively unknown Arab investment company ‘Abu Dhabi United Group’, they needed to make a statement.
And that’s exactly what they did. Not perturbed by their failure to cheekily lure Berbatov from his medical at Manchester United, a flurry of further bids was lodged for several high-profile stars. Robinho, who was all but certain to be headed for Chelsea before the day began, ended up signing for Manchester City in a British record £32.5m purchase from Real Madrid.
Despite finishing as City’s top scorer in his first season with 14 goals, Robinho fell down the pecking order under new manager Roberto Mancini in his second season, scoring just a single goal against lower league Scunthorpe United, before being shipped off to Milan.
Regardless that Robinho’s City career never really took off, the little Brazilian will be long remembered as the signing that heralded a new era at Manchester City.
#3 Nicolas Otamendi - €44.60 million
Another central defender, yet another big money deal. Just like Mangala, Nicolas Otamendi arrived at Manchester City with a huge reputation. A unanimous choice for the very best central defender in the La Liga from the 2014-15 season, ahead of the likes of Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique, Otamendi was commanding, dominant in the air and equipped with a fierce battling style.
It wasn’t just his defensive capabilities that attracted City’s attention. His threat from dead ball situations, La Liga’s top scoring defender, something City had been lacking in the absence of injured captain Vincent Kompany.
Despite all the accolades, the Argentine is yet to completely adapt to the rigours of the Premier League. At times he’s proved to be an ideal partner for Kompany, but those have often been overshadowed by numerous moments of poor decision making. With Kompany’s injury woes and the constant rotation between Mangala and Demichelis, Otamendi has quite failed to settle in.
Moving to a new country and a completely different league is never easy, more so for a centre-back. It would be very unfair to term Otamendi among the flops this soon for he shown the glimpses of his former self at Valencia.
Producing his best performance to date in a City shirt in the Manchester Derby, Otamendi remained unfazed by the hostile Old Trafford atmosphere, shutting down Anthony Martial and Juan Mata throughout the game with absolute perfection.
#2 Raheem Sterling - €62.50 million
Rejected contracts, unceremonious interviews, agent talks and skipped trainings – Raheem Sterling became the talk of the 2015 summer transfer window. Amid constant rumours that Sterling wanted to leave the club, Brendan Rodgers claimed that Sterling had been offered ‘an incredible deal’, rumoured to be a new long-term contract worth over £100,000 a week.
The offer was waived off by Sterling’s agent Aidy Ward, who later revealed in an exclusive interview that his client would not sign the contract even if given ‘£800 or £900 thousand a week’.
An unused substitute in Liverpool’s last game of the season at Stoke City, Sterling was a subject of constant booing and jeering by the Liverpool fans at the annual awards. An initial bid of £30 million from Manchester City was rejected and a further second bid of £40 million was rebuffed too.
However with Sterling having set his heart on the move away from Anfield, City sealing the transfer with an offer worth a whopping £49 million.
Though he showed glimpses of his talent and ability at his new club, scoring within three minutes of his debut, Sterling eventually lost his place in the starting line-up under Manuel Pellegrini. He was faced with heavy criticism owing to his prolonged poor form, constant dribbling with no end product and a lack of sharpness in front of the goal frustrating the City faithful to no end.
A season further curtailed due to a groin injury, it didn’t take long for Sterling to be labelled as ‘one of the worst signings of the season’.
#1 Kevin De Bruyne - €74.00 million
For a player whom Jose Mourinho had felt wasn’t good enough for Chelsea just 18 months earlier, no one would’ve been expecting Kevin De Bruyne to return to the English shores, no less for a record transfer fee.
But on the back of a stellar 2014-15 season at Wolfsburg in which he broke the Bundesliga record for most assists and was also named the Footballer of the Year in the German top-flight, De Bruyne was snapped up by Manuel Pellegrini for a still club record £58.4 million deal.
Turning into the team’s leading playmaker, De Bruyne was a constant menace, whether providing a heap of assists or scoring them themselves. In the absence of the injured David Silva, De Bruyne proved to be a capable focal point in City’s already star-studded attack.
De Bruyne’s importance became apparent during his brief absence due to a knee ligament damage following a crunching tackle from Everton’s Ramiro Funes Mori when City lost five of their next seven Premier League games and were in serious danger of missing out on a top-four spot.
Easily City’s best player in a rather disappointing last season with 16 goals and 9 assists across all competitions, the Belgium international has gone a long way in justifying Manchester City’s decision to make him Britain’s second most expensive footballer.
