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Manchester City were taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008 - a move that transformed the club's fortunes and reshaped the top end of the Premier League table.In this article, we take a look at some of the transfer deals that the Citizens have brokered since the takeover, the impact some of the new faces have had and some that didn't quite leave their mark during their spell at the Etihad Stadium.Here is a quick glance at Manchester City’s highest expenditures every season, along with their league position in each one of them.SeasonLeague PositionPlayer with Highest Transfer FeeTransfer Fee2008/0910Robinho£32.5 million2009/105Carlos Tevez£25.5 million2010/113Edin Dzeko£27 million2011/121Sergio Aguero£38 million2012/132Javi Garcia£15.8 million2013/141Fernandinho£30 million2014/152Eliaquim Mangala£32 million2015/161*Kevin De Bruyne£55 million*Updated as of October 20, 2015
#1 2008-09
Season Overview
Manchester City finished 10th under the tutelage of Mark Hughes, with marquee signing Robinho impressing in bits and parts as he finished the campaign with 14 league goals. Verdan Corluka was the only promising player to depart the Citizens as he left to join Spurs for a fee of £8.5 million.
The Citizens were plagued by a dismal away form throughout the season (11 points from 19 matches) and that proved to be their undoing in what started out as a promising season.
New signings Zabaleta and Kompany saw lots of action in what turned out to be a disappointing campaign for the Blues.
Notable Arrivals
| Position | Player | Age | Moving From | Transfer Fee |
| Left Wing | Robinho | 24 | Real Madrid (La Liga) | £32.5 million |
| Centre Forward | Jô | 21 | CSKA Moscow (Russian Premier League) | £18 million |
| Defensive Midfield | Nigel de Jong | 24 | Hamburger SV (Bundesliga) | £18 million |
| Left Wing | Craig Bellamy | 29 | West Ham (English Premier League) | £14 million |
| Left Back | Wayne Bridge | 28 | Chelsea FC (English Premier League) | £12 million |
| Right Wing | Shaun Wright-Phillips | 26 | Chelsea FC (English Premier League) | £9 million |
| Keeper | Shay Given | 32 | Newcastle (English Premier League) | £5.9 million |
| Right-Back | Pablo Zabaleta | 23 | Espanyol (La Liga) | £6.45 million |
| Centre Back | Vincent Kompany | 22 | Hamburger SV (Bundesliga) | £6 million |
| Centre Back | Tal Ben Haim | 26 | Chelsea FC (English Premier League) | Free |
#2 2009-10
Season Overview
Robinho, Elano and Sturridge departed as millions were spent on reinforcing the Manchester City strike force with the additions of Tevez, Adebayor and Santa Cruz.
City made a torrid start to the season, which led to the appointment of Roberto Mancini after the dismissal of Hughes in December. In his first few months in the job, the Italian made numerous improvements to the team, such as ironing out its occasional lack of focus and cohesion in defence whilst also improving the overall mentality of the team.
City narrowly lost out on a coveted Champions League spot after losing their last home game to Tottenham Hotspur in a match dubbed as the "Champions League play-off" by the media.
By finishing in fifth place under Roberto Mancini’s guidance, the Blues improved on the previous season’s performance. Tevez bagged 23 league goals in his debut season while Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy chipped in with 14 and 10 goals respectively.
Notable Arrivals
| Position | Player | Age | Moving From | Transfer Fee |
| Secondary Striker | Carlos Tévez | 25 | West Ham (English Premier League) | £25.5 million |
| Centre Forward | Emmanuel Adebayor | 25 | Arsenal FC (English Premier League) | £25 million |
| Centre Back | Joleon Lescott | 27 | Everton (English Premier League) | £22 million |
| Centre Forward | Roque Santa Cruz | 27 | Blackburn (English Premier League) | £17.5 million |
| Centre Back | Kolo Touré | 28 | Arsenal FC (English Premier League) | £16 million |
| Defensive Midfield | Gareth Barry | 28 | Aston Villa (English Premier League) | £12 million |
| Right Wing | Adam Johnson | 22 | Middlesbrough (English Premier League) | £7 million |
#3 2010-11
Season Overview
Craig Bellamy (Cardiff), Santa Cruz (Blackburn) & Adebayor (loaned to Real Madrid) departed to make way for Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli as Roberto Mancini began his spending spree.
Yaya Touré, David Silva & James Milner were brought in to provide some much-needed steel in midfield and potency in attack. The new signings along with season top-scorer Carlos Tevez guided City to a 3rd place finish in the Premier League and also ended the club’s 35-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup final against Stoke City, with Yaya Toure scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win at Wembley.
City also gave a promising account of themselves in the UEFA Europa League and progressed to the round of 16 in the competition, having topped the table in the group stages.
Notable Arrivals
| Position | Player | Age | Moving From | Transfer Fee |
| Centre Forward | Edin Dzeko | 24 | VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga) | £27 million |
| Central Midfield | Yaya Touré | 27 | FC Barcelona (La Liga) | £24 million |
| Centre Forward | Mario Balotelli | 20 | Inter (Serie A) | £24 million |
| Attacking Midfield | David Silva | 24 | Valencia CF (La Liga) | £26 million |
| Left-Back | Aleksandar Kolarov | 24 | Lazio (Serie A) | £16 million |
| Central Midfield | James Milner | 24 | Aston Villa (English Premier League) | £26 million |
| Centre Back | Jérôme Boateng | 21 | Hamburger SV (Bundesliga) | £10.5 million |
#4 2011-12
Season Overview
Sergio Agüero and Samir Nasri were brought in to strengthen the attack as Jérôme Boateng packed his bags for Munich.
After qualifying for the Champions League courtesy their third place league finish, City finished third in their group behind Bayern Munich and Napoli, thus entering the Europa League in the process. They would eventually be eliminated by Sporting CP in the round of 16 after surviving the round of 32.
In the Premier League, City trailed Manchester United in the standings throughout the season, but 5 wins on the trot towards the final game of the season helped the Sky Blues wipe out their 8 point deficit. Sergio Aguero sealed an emphatic Premier League title win for the club with his 23rd Premier League strike of the season in injury time as they beat QPR 3-2.
Notable Arrivals
| Position | Player | Age | Moving From | Transfer fee |
| Centre Forward | Sergio Agüero | 23 | Atlético Madrid (La Liga) | £38 million |
| Left Wing | Samir Nasri | 24 | Arsenal FC (English Premier League) | £24 million |
| Centre Back | Stefan Savic | 20 | FK Partizan (Serbian SuperLiga) | £6 million |
| Left-Back | Gaël Clichy | 25 | Arsenal FC (English Premier League) | £7 million |
| Defensive Midfield | Owen Hargreaves | 30 | Manchester Utd (English Premier League) | Free transfer |
#5 2012-13
Season Overview
For the first time since 2008, no signings were made to bolster the attack. Mancini used funds cautiously to strengthen City’s weakness by shoring up the defence with the likes of Javi García, Matija Nastasic and Jack Rodwell, as troublesome forward Mario Balotelli was offloaded to AC Milan.
Adam Johnson(Sunderland) & Nigel De Jong(AC Milan) were also among the notable names to depart.
However, City were unable to repeat their Premier League heroics of the previous season as they finished runners-up to city rivals Manchester United. Roberto Mancini was let go days before the end of the season and was replaced by Brian Kidd for the remaining fixtures in the season.
The Citizens also crashed out of the Group stages in the Champions League.
Notable Arrivals
| Position | Player | Age | Moving from | Transfer Fee |
| Defensive Midfield | Javi García | 25 | Benfica (Liga Portuguesa) | £15.8 million |
| Centre Back | Matija Nastasic | 19 | Fiorentina (Serie A) | £12 million |
| Central Midfield | Jack Rodwell | 21 | Everton (English Premier League) | £12 million |
| Left Wing | Scott Sinclair | 23 | Swansea (English Premier League) | £6.2 million |
| Right-Back | Maicon | 31 | Inter (Serie A) | £3.5 million |
#6 2013-14
Season Overview
The new season saw Manuel Pellegrini appointed at the helm and the Chilean bought with him a flurry of attack minded players. Star striker Carlos Tevez (Juventus) and winger Scott Sinclair (West Brom) made way for Fernandinho, Jovetic, Negredo and Navas.
The Citizens won the Premier League for the second time in three seasons as Yaya Toure, Dzeko and Aguero put in stellar performances throughout the campaign, averaging at least 15 goals apiece. The club scored a whopping 102 goals in the league, and also clinched the League Cup by defeating Sunderland 3-1 in the final.
In Europe, City were knocked out from the Champions League in the round of 16 by Barcelona once again after having finished second in their group behind Bayern Munich.
Notable Arrivals
Position | Player | Age | Moving from | Transfer fee |
| Central Midfield | Fernandinho | 28 | Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukranian Premier League) | £30m |
| Secondary Striker | Stevan Jovetic | 23 | Fiorentina (Serie A) | £22m |
| Centre Forward | Álvaro Negredo | 27 | Sevilla FC (La Liga) | £20m |
| Right Wing | Jesús Navas | 27 | Sevilla FC (La Liga) | £14.9m |
| Centre Back | Martín Demichelis | 32 | Atlético Madrid (La Liga) | £4m |
#7 2014-15
Season Overview
Javi García (Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Jack Rodwell (Sunderland) & Micah Richards (Fiorentina) departed the Etihad Stadium as Eliaquim Mangala and Bacary Sagna were brought in from Porto and Arsenal respectively. The Citizens finished trophy-less despite huge activity in the transfer market.
They came in second behind Bayern Munich in the Champions League group stages once again before being knocked out by eventual winners Barcelona in the round of 16.
Sergio Aguero’s stellar performances guided City to a second-place finish in the league, following which the Argentine picked up the Premier League Golden Boot award for registering 26 strikes over the course of the season and also earned a nomination for the PFA Player of the Year award.
Notable arrivals
| Position | Player | Age | Moving From | Transfer Fee |
| Centre Back | Eliaquim Mangala | 23 | FC Porto (Liga Portuguesa) | £32 million |
| Centre Forward | Wilfried Bony | 26 | Swansea (English Premier League) | £28 million |
| Defensive Midfield | Fernando | 26 | FC Porto (Liga Portuguesa) | £12 million |
| Keeper | Willy Caballero | 32 | Málaga CF (La Liga) | £6 million |
| Right-Back | Bacary Sagna | 31 | Arsenal FC (English Premier League) | Free transfer |
| Central Midfield | Frank Lampard | 36 | NYC FC (Major League Soccer) | Loan |
#8 2015-16
Season Overview
Manchester City began their campaign in a rich vein of form and have Sergio Aguero to thank for it. Despite his niggling injury concerns, the Argentine striker has begun his season in a rich vein of form (he scored five against Newcastle!).
Marquee signing Kevin De Bruyne has also been a revelation this season, filling in for injured David Silva while also providing an option on either flanks.The Belgian and fellow new signing Raheem Sterling will be hoping to impress throughout the season as they replace the Eden Dzeko (AS Roma) and Álvaro Negredo (Valencia CF) in the squad.
Notable Arrivals
| Position | Player | Age | Moving From | Transfer Fee |
| Attacking Midfield | Kevin De Bruyne | 24 | VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga) | £55m |
| Left Wing | Raheem Sterling | 20 | Liverpool (English Premier League) | £44m |
| Centre Back | Nicolás Otamendi | 27 | Valencia CF (La Liga) | £28.5m |
| Second Striker | Patrick Roberts | 18 | Fulham (English Premier League) | £12m |
| Central Midfield | Fabian Delph | 25 | Aston Villa (English Premier League) | £8m |
