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Manchester City have earned a lot of accolades in the last decade and it all started with the Abu Dhabi United Group takeover in 2008. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family, made the purchase back then and has given a new look to City.
Ever since the takeover, Manchester City have become a dominant force in the Premier League. The deal saw the Cityzens bring a number of quality players to the club, some of whom have made huge contributions to City's success.
Manchester City have made some poor signings in the last decade
While some of the signings made by Manchester City have done wonders for them, some have turned out to be horribly wrong. Post the Abu Dhabi takeover, some of the players signed have been quite disappointing, to say the least.
On that note, let's take a look at some of the worst signings made by City since their Abu Dhabi takeover:
Notable mention: Javi Garcia
#5 Jo
Having come through the ranks at Corinthians, Jo started his senior career in the Brazilian league. In 2005, he joined CSKA Moscow in the Russian Premier League. In his first 18 appearances, he scored 14 goals.
This inspired Manchester City to sign the Brazilian striker in the summer of 2008. The tall striker struggled to get a place in the starting lineup after managing to score once in his four league appearances. In total, he managed to start only six matches in the 2008-09 season, scoring only once.
Midway into the season, he was sent on loan to Everton for the remainder of the season. The following season, too, he was on loan with the Toffees and the season after he joined Galatasaray on loan. After his loan expired, he enjoyed very little time with Cityzens and ended his disappointing spell with them by signing for Internacional in 2011. Signing Jo turned out to be an awful decision by Manchester City.
#4 Scott Sinclair
The English forward graduated from the academy of Bristol Rovers. Scott Sinclair joined Chelsea in 2005 but was then sent on loan for spells at multiple clubs. He eventually joined Swansea City in 2010 and his performances at the Liberty Stadium attracted the interest of a few Premier League sides.
Sinclair signed for Manchester City in 2012 to play under Roberto Mancini. He was expected to blossom at the Etihad with some star players around him. Unfortunately for him, the Englishman made only 11 appearances in the Premier League for the Cityzens. Sinclair failed to impress the Italian manager and struggled on the sidelines.
Later on in his career, he joined Celtic in 2016 where he did fabulously well. He scored 40 goals and assisted in 15 others in 105 appearances in the Scottish Premier League.
#3 Jack Rodwell
Following Manchester City's Premier League triumph in the 2011-12 season, they were looking for a midfielder in the summer of 2012. Everton's Jack Rodwell provided some impressive performances and was therefore signed by the Cityzens.
Rodwell had a spark about himself in midfield which brought a lot of energy to the pitch. He was sharp, good at tackling and understanding the game. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury in his first season with Manchester City sidelined him for two months. He made 11 Premier League appearances in his first season.
The following season, his chances only got more limited with the arrival of Fernandinho. With the likes of Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri, David Silva and others already present, Rodwell struggled with game time in his second season at Manchester City. It never made sense for City to sign him. The Englishman left the club for Sunderland in 2014.
#2 Eliaquim Mangala
Eliaquim Mangala joined Portuguese side Porto in 2011. He impressed Manchester City with his performances there and a move was almost done in the winter transfer window in 2012. But due to Porto's high valuation of the defender, the deal did not go through.
Manchester City were eventually successful in signing the Frenchman in the summer of 2012 for a hefty fee of £42 million, making him the most expensive defender in British transfer history back then.
With all the hype around him, Mangala did himself no favors by being reckless and unnecessarily aggressive in the Premier League. Despite then Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini giving him a decent number of chances, the former Porto defender failed to settle down and justify his big-money move.
The French centre-back was sent on loan to Valencia and Everton respectively for the next two seasons before joining Valencia as a free agent in 2019. Given his transfer fee, it was a big loss for Manchester City.
#1 Wilfried Bony
Wilfried Bony made his name while playing for Swansea City in the Premier League from 2013 to 2015. In those two seasons, he scored 25 league goals in 54 appearances.
Seeing this, Manchester City signed the Ivorian striker in the winter of 2015. He was signed to play as a backup to Sergio Aguero. It was a surprising decision by Bony given that he could have played on a regular basis at Swansea City.
But given the temptation to play for the developing Manchester City lured the former Vitesse striker to the Etihad. The transfer fee for Bony was around £28 million, making him the most expensive African footballers at the time. As expected, the Ivorian struggled to get game time and managed to start only 15 games in two seasons with the Cityzens.
With the arrival of Pep Guardiola in 2016, Bony was loaned out to Stoke City. At the end of his season-long loan, he was sold back to Swansea City. The signing of Wilfried Bony for Manchester City was an utter waste of time, money and energy for all the parties involved.
