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Manchester City have been ruling the Premier League for the last decade. After the year 2013 and Manchester United's 20th domestic title, the Red Devils continued to struggle with the departure of their long-term manager Alex Ferguson.
Their cross-country rivals — Manchester City, capitalized on most of this opportunity and emerged to be the superior side in the recent past.
Ever since Pep Guardiola took the reins from Manuel Pellegrini, he has established himself as the most successful manager in the history of Sky Blues.
With a combination of smartly knitted tactics, Pep fortified the Cityzens to be a formidable side within the domestic league. The former Barcelona coach has started to bolster his squad by bringing in great sets of legs from across Europe.
Under his reign, City emerged as one of the strongest squads in the continent. While we addressed Pep and his team's recent achievements, let us take a look at five players that earned big bucks for Manchester City.
#5 Kelechi Iheanacho | Manchester City to Leicester City (€27.7 million) | 2017
Nigerian national Iheanacho was a budding talent who climbed up the ladder after starting with Manchester City's youth set up.
He is regarded as a player with infinite potential who can run down the opposition's defense at explosive pace. His constant display of skillset at a young age earned him the 2016 FIFA Golden Boy award nomination. Though the accolade was bagged by Renato Sanches that year, Iheanacho continued with his fine form.
A lack of opportunity in the starting XI forced Iheanacho to find a new home. The 2016 surprise champs Leicester City brought the Nigerian youngster for a fee reported around €27.7 million.
#4 Alvaro Negredo | Manchester City to Valencia (€28 million) | 2015
Alvaro Negrado was a sought-after player in the second half of 2000s. The Madrid-born striker's impressive form earned him a call-up to the senior side by then manager Fabio Capello.
Due to immense competition from Cristiano Ronaldo, Karima Benzema, Kaka, Gonzalo Higuain, Ruud van Nistelrooy and the others, he realized Sevilla to be his best bet.
The Spaniard spent four successful seasons at Sevilla before arriving at the Etihad Stadium with teammate Jesús Navas. He is the first Man City player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League.
The lack of playing time pushed Negredo back to Spain in 2014. But this time with Valencia. The move was made permanent the following year, adding €28 million to Cityzen's kitty.
#3 Shaun Wright-Philips | Manchester City to Chelsea (€31.5 million) | 2005
Being the son of England's renowned footballer Ian Wright, Shaun Wright-Philips had huge boots to fill. Shaun was picked up by Manchester City when he was 17.
As a player known for his pace, Shaun Wright-Philips, was deployed in a relatively new position of high-pressing wing-back in that era by manager Kevin Keegan. The gamble worked for both as City's performances improved and Shaun Wright-Philips won consecutive Manchester City's Young Player of the Year awards four times.
His growing fame earned him a ticket to his native, London, with Chelsea. The €31.5 million move was massive back in 2005. However, the former England international struggled to find his form at Stamford Bridge and eventually made a return to Manchester City.
Shaun remained with the Sky Blues until 2011 before moving to QPR.
#2 Danilo | Manchester City to Juventus (€37 million) | 2019
If it wasn't for Dani Carvajal's presence within the squad, Danilo would've been Real Madrid's number one right-back option. The Brazilian full-back possesses massive talent and has always been under the radar of some top clubs across Europe.
The former Los Blancos star fell under Pep Guardiola's eyes, who immediately brought him to the Etihad. After facing an increasing competition from João Cancelo and Kyle Walker, Danilo chose Juventus as his next home.
The profitable move earned City €37 million in total. Danilo remains one of the key players in Turin at the moment.
#1 Leroy Sané | Manchester City to Bayern Munich (€45 million) | 2020
One of the most high-profile transfers in recent years saw Leroy Sané move back to his country to join Bayern Munich. The impending switch, which was delayed due to the German's ACL injury that was picked up during the Community Shield match vs Liverpool, took place in 2020 only after his recovery.
The €45 million move is the biggest sale in the history of Manchester City and the second-most expensive (after Lucas Hernández's €80 million move) signing by Bayern Munich.
Sané was desperately wanted by the Bundesliga heavyweights who were looking for players to fill the void left by Robben and Ribery. In addition, the sale comes with add-on options that could potentially raise the fee to a total of €60 million.
This ends our list of Manchester City's top five sales. Stay tuned for more such articles.
