Throughout the Premier League era and especially after the takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, Manchester City have made some wonderful signings.
Just think about the likes of Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Sergio Aguero; but what of the lesser remember names that represent some of City’s not-so-successful business in the last 27 years?
Pep Guardiola rarely gets it wrong, to be fair, but there have been many occasions over the years where Man City have spent money, often massive amounts, on bang average footballers.
So we’ve recalled the Citizens’ 20 worst signings of the Premier League era so far -agree?
Maicon
First up is Brazil legend Maicon who would have perhaps have gone down as a completely different signing had the Sky Blues captured him four or five years earlier.
When the right-back arrived at the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2012 for £3m, still a fair sum of money back then, he was the wrong side of 30 and beginning to battle with repeated injuries.
He would only appear 13 times before being shifted onto Roma a year later.
Bernardo Corradi
Would it be fair to say that Man City’s current Bernando (Silva) was inspired by his club’s Bernando from a decade before (Corradi)? No, probably not.
The hot-headed former Italy international striker was signed by Stuart Pearce prior to the 2006/2007 campaign and lasted just one term in Manchester before his loaning out to Parma and subsequent departure the following summer, scoring just three goals and collecting two red cards.
Nolito
Pep Guardiola’s Citizens forked out the best part of £15m for a Spanish centre-forward in his pomp in the summer of 2016, Nolito – a year later the Spanish international was to return to his homeland with Sevilla.
In reality, the former Barcelona man, who impressed at EURO 2016, never adapted to the English game or way of life, infamously commenting not long before his City exit that he and his family had changed colour due to the lack of sunshine in England’s climate.
Roque Santa Cruz
Early in the reign of what is now known as the City Football Group, the east Manchester outfit were like a teenager after just receiving their first pay packet, splashing their cash on any old thing just because it’s their money and they can.
The £17.5m acquisition Roque Santa Cruz is certainly an example of that having been purchased based on a half-decent scoring record at Blackburn Rovers and a grand total of four goals for the Etihad side goes down as one of their worst PL era signings.
Christian Negouai
How could we not include in this list the only player in Premier League history to have been sent off in his only match in the league?
The great irony here is that Christian Negouai only made 11 appearances in total for the club but he somehow managed to get himself sent off on three occasions, with the other two coming in the League Cup and the FA Cup.
Jack Rodwell
Last seen refusing to give up his extortionate contract on the Sunderland documentary on Netflix, Jack Rodwell was one of the rising stars of English football when he swapped Merseyside for east Manchester in 2012 in a deal worth £12m.
But injuries limited the ex-England central midfielder to just 15 outings in his first season with the Citizens and even fewer the following term meant he was offloaded to the Stadium of Light after just two years, leaving the Etihad in a downward spiral in such contrast to the way he had arrived.
Laurent Charvet
The story of Laurent Charvet is rather similar to that of Rodwell; captured for big money after a couple of impressive seasons in England and moved on after two campaigns having barely made 25 appearances.
The right-back was simply never up to the task, utterly woeful, and the fact that he was deemed not even good enough to play for Sochaux in the year after his City exit says it all really.
Gerry Creaney
City fans might well want to look away for this one.
Imagine swapping one of your best players and fan favourites in Paul Walsh for someone as ineffective as Gerry Creaney, and also paying £500k for the pleasure, well that’s exactly what City did in 1995 and three years and four outbound loans down the line Creaney was released!
Jo
Talking of shocking moves, this one is up there with one of the worst transfers of all time in world football, let alone just for City and in the Premier League era.
Jo, who’s somehow played 20 times for Brazil and scored a few goals as well, signed for a fee believed to be a club-record £19m from CSKA Moscow in the 2008 summer transfer window and the Sky Blues certainly got value for money, if you count that as a miserly six goals in 42 games.
Jerome Boateng
On paper, Jerome Boateng was a huge waste of money for Man City but in reality, the move could have paid off if they were a little more patient with him.
Roberto Mancini saw his potential whilst he was playing for Hamburg, though the centre-back only remained under his reign for one injury-affected season and played out of position at right-back for most of it.
Nowadays we, of course, know Bayern Munich’s Boateng as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League and seven-time Bundesliga-winning global star.