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Centre-backs - Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Stefan Savic (Atletico Madrid) and Matija Nastasić (Schalke)
Manchester City has spent a lot of money on central defenders in recent years and they could have saved most of it they had kept faith in Jerome Boateng.
The German joined Manchester City in 2010 from Hamburger and left after only one season. He played 24 times for City in all competitions and won the FA Cup although he wasn’t a member of the matchday squad in the final.
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Boateng joined Bayern Munich after leaving Man City and made a name as one of the best in the world. He has won 16 trophies with Bayern so far and also played a crucial role when Germany won the World Cup in 2014.
Stefan Savic is another centre-back who could have saved Man City a lot of money if they had more faith in him. He signed for City in 2011 from Partizan but played a backup role to Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott. However, he played 12 games that season and earned a Premier League winners’ medal.
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The Montenegrin was sold to Fiorentina the following season and he was a regular starter for the Serie A side for three seasons before joining Atletico Madrid in 2015. Savic has since split the job to partner Diego Godin in the Atletico Madrid defence with Jose Maria Gimenez.
When Man City sold Savic to Fiorentina, they signed a 19-year-old Matija Nastasic in exchange. The Serb had impressed for the Viola the season before and had a huge future ahead of him.
Nastasic impressed in his debut season with the club and became a fan favourite with his performance. He quickly pushed 30-year-old Lescott out of the starting XI and was named the club’s player of the month in November 2012. At the end of the season, he was named Man City’s Young Player of the Season.
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The following season, he struggled with injuries but still picked up a Premier League winners’ medal. In 2014/15, he was pushed down the pecking order after City signed Eliaquim Mangala and as a result, he joined Schalke in January 2015.
The 25-year-old had injury concerns during his initial seasons with Schalke but he’s now a regular for the Bundesliga club.
Honourable mentions - Ben Mee (Burnley), Vedran Ćorluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Jason Denayer (Olympique Lyon) and Dedryck Boyata (Celtic)
