Manchester City Signings Under Sheikh Mansour Rated – Part 1
Manchester City, a formidable name in world football right now weren’t considered an European powerhouse until 2008 when Sheikh Mansour took over the ownership of the club. A new era began that day in the club history. The owner’s ambition was pretty much clear – he wanted City to be a major European force. The day Mansour took the control at the blue half of Manchester was the last day of the summer transfer window and City made their first statement by snapping up Robinho from Real Madrid. There has been no look back since then. They have won a couple of domestic titles and now considered as one of the European elites.
During this period many players came and many players left the club. Some of them came out to be disastrous signings, some were fabulous. Before Pep Guardiola, there were Mark Hughes, Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini who performed the managerial role at Manchester City.
Here we will look at the signings of individual managers after Sheikh Mansour takeover and how they fared during their stay at the Manchester. In part-1, we are focusing on signings made by Mark Hughes and in subsequent parts we will cover the other managers’ signings too.
[Verdict Sequence : Disaster < Flop < Below Average < Average < Above Average < Hit < Superhit < Blockbuster]
1. Robinho (Brazil) [2008-2010]
Position : Forward
Joined from : Real Madrid (£32.5m)
Transferred to : AC Milan (£15m)
Trophies won at Manchester City : Nil
Verdict : Below Average
2. Craig Bellamy (Wales) [2009-2011]
Position : Forward
Joined from : West Ham United (£14m)
Transferred to : Liverpool (Free Transfer)
Trophies won at Manchester City : Nil
Verdict : Hit
3. Carlos Tevez (Argentina) [2009-2013]
Position : Forward
Joined from : Manchester United (Undisclosed fee ; believed to be around £25.5m – £47.5m)
Transferred to : Juventus (£12m)
Trophies won at Manchester City :
A. English Premier League 2011-12
B. FA Cup 2010-11
C. FA Community Shield 2012
Verdict : Superhit
Checkout:Manchester City Greatest Players Ever
4. Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) [2009-2012]
Position : Forward
Joined from : Arsenal (£25m)
Transferred to : Tottenham Hotspur (£5m)
Trophies won at Manchester City : Nil
Verdict : Flop
5. Roque Santa Cruz (Paraguay) [2009-2013]
Position : Striker
Joined from : Blackburn Rovers (£17.5m)
Transferred to : Malaga (Free Transfer)
Trophies won at Manchester City : Nil
Verdict : Disaster
Checkout:Manchester City Worst Signings Ever
6. Gareth Barry (England) [2009-2014]
Position : Midfielder
Joined from : Aston Villa (£12m)
Transferred to : Everton (Free Transfer)
Trophies won at Manchester City :
A. English Premier League 2011-12
B. FA Cup 2010-11
Verdict : Above Average
7. Joleon Lescott (England) [2009-2014]
Position : Defender
Joined from : Everton (£22m)
Transferred to : West Brom (Free Transfer)
Trophies won at Manchester City :
A. English Premier League 2011-12
B. FA Cup 2010-11
C. FA Community Shield 2012
D. English Premier League 2013-14
Verdict : Above Average
8. Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast) [2009-2013]
Position : Centre Back
Joined from : Arsenal (£14m)
Transferred to : Liverpool (Free Transfer)
Trophies won at Manchester City :
A. English Premier League 2011-12
Verdict : Above Average
Tryout:Man City Quiz
9. Nigel de Jong (Netherlands) [2009-2012]
http://gty.im/114178346
Position : Defensive Midfielder
Joined from : Hamburger SV (£18m)
Transferred to : AC Milan (£3.5 – £5m)
Trophies won at Manchester City :
A. English Premier League 2011-12
B. FA Cup 2010-11
C. FA Community Shield 2012
Verdict : Hit
10. Wayne Bridge (England) [2009-2013]
Position : Left Back
Joined from : Chelsea (£10m)
Transferred to : Reading (Free Transfer)
Trophies won at Manchester City : Nil
Verdict : Below Average
11. Shay Given (Republic of Ireland) [2009-2011]
Position : Goalkeeper
Joined from : Newcastle United (£6m)
Transferred to : Aston Villa (£3.5m)
Trophies won at Manchester City :
A. FA Cup 2010-11
Verdict : Average
12. Sylvinho (Brazil) [2009-10]
Position : Left Back
Joined from : Barcelona (Free Transfer)
Transferred to : Retired
Trophies won at Manchester City : Nil
Verdict : Average
Although Jo, Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta signed for Manchester City some days before Sheikh Mansour takeover, they were indispensable part of Hughes’ plan.
13. Jo (Brazil) [2008-2011]
Position : Striker
Joined from : CSKA Moscow (£19m)
Transferred to : Internacional (Undisclosed Fee)
Trophies won at Manchester City : Nil
Verdict : Disaster
14. Vincent Kompany (Belgium) [2008-Present]
http://gty.im/685543938
Position : Centre Back
Joined from : Hamburger SV (£6m)
Transferred to : Currently playing at Manchester City
Trophies won at Manchester City :
A. English Premier League 2011-12
B. FA Cup 2010-11
C. FA Community Shield 2012
D. English Premier League 2013-14
E. Football League Cup 2013-14
F. Football League Cup 2015-16
Verdict : Blockbuster
15. Pablo Zabaleta (Argentina) [2008-2017]
Position : Right Back
Joined from : Espanyol (£6.45m)
Transferred to : West Ham United (Free Transfer)
Trophies won at Manchester City :
A. English Premier League 2011-12
B. FA Cup 2010-11
C. FA Community Shield 2012
D. English Premier League 2013-14
E. Football League Cup 2013-14
F. Football League Cup 2015-16
Verdict : Blockbuster