Manchester City have been found guilty of 115 breaches of Premier League rules.
The Premier League accused Man City in their statement of arranging “‘Sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners,” which helped “inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs”.
This, naturally, means that the six-time Prem champions were able to sign players that they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to sign – so let’s go through them all…
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2009/10
2009: Stuart Taylor, free
Let’s start off modestly.
Former Arsenal back-up keeper Stuart Taylor became the Scott Carson of his day, joining City on a free transfer and making just a single appearance in three years before chucking in life on the Etihad bench for Reading’s.
2009: Gareth Barry, £12m
A signal of intent from City at the time, as England regular Gareth Barry was snared in midfield from Aston Villa, who had developed him from a teenager.
Barry spent five years in the Sky Blues engine room, winning the league and the FA Cup, en route to breaking the Premier League’s all-time appearance record.
2009: Roque Santa Cruz, £18m
Who else misses when City used to sign Barclaysmen?
Former Bayern and Blackburn bagsman Santa Cruz played just 20 times in the league after swapping Ewood for Eastlands – even going back on loan to Rovers in 2011, before two more loan spells in Spain.
2009: Carlos Tevez, £25.5m
The biggest signing in the Premier League during the 2009 summer transfer window, and a major one in City’s history.
A year after work-shy Robinho joined in a dramatic statement of intent, City upgraded on him with a ferocious forward who typified the drive and hunger they’d need to oust Manchester United from the top of the tree: signing him from down the road was a mere bonus.
City later had to apologise for the Argentine holding up a banner depicting Sir Alex Ferguson’s tombstone. The rivalry was well and truly alive.
2009: Emmanuel Adebayor, £25m
While cash-strapped Arsenal made Thomas Vermaelen their only major signing of the summer – on top of re-signing a creaking Sol Campbell on a free – City helped themselves to their better players.
Emmanuel Adebayor came first: yes, we all remember what happened next.
2009: Kolo Toure, £16m
Kolo Toure was one of few older heads at the Emirates Stadium and one of the last Invincibles of the side: he asked to leave after a bust-up with William Gallas.
The Gunners were thankful for the money, needing to pay off costs for their new ground.
2009: Sylvinho, free
Another former Gunner to boot, Sylvinho added experience at full-back, having won major titles at Barcelona.
2009: Joleon Lescott, £22m
A major asquisition at the time, Joleon Lescott was seen as a successor to the Terry/Ferdinand axis for England – so just as with signing Barry, it felt like City would have a spine in the national team.
Lescott had five relatively fruitful years at the Etihad, even if Vincent Kompany was always the better of the two in defence, making this signing a success.
2009: Loris Karis, undisclosed
An early indicator that City were prepared to bring in future talent.
Loris Karius was never deemed good enough for City, but certainly deemed Liverpool level later down the line, even if it didn’t work out.
2010: Patrick Vieira, free
Seriously, how many former Arsenal players do you want?
The signing of Patrick Vieira marked an interesting development for City: not only were they prepared to buy the best up-and-comers and world stars of the time, but were investing in future managers, with the World Cup winner taking on a youth development role with City’s Elite Development Squad, before becoming manager of New York City FC in 2016, another City Football Group club.
2010: Adam Johnson, £11m
Another example of City looking to tie up the next generation of Three Lions stars, Adam Johnson was 22 when he made the switch to City, though he never really reached the next level that he was expected to while in Manchester.
A Sunderland move followed, before he was arrested for child grooming and sexual activity with a minor, before being sentenced to six years in prison.
2010/11
2010: Jerome Boateng, £10m
Following the Kompany playbook of signing a highly-rated Hamburg centre-back, City spent £10m on Jerome Boateng.
Boateng was fine at City, but as usually happens when you sign top Germans, Bayern Munich swooped in.
2010: Yaya Toure, £24m
One of two truly transformational signings of that summer – and the biggest of the summer in England, once again.
City were bullying the likes of Arsenal and Aston Villa to sign their better players – but Yaya Toure signing from Barcelona was the first real proof that City could throw their weight around on the European stage. It was money well spent, too.
The Ivorian became a legend in the legend, was the driving force behind that first trophy (the FA Cup in 2011) and scored 20 league goals in City’s second Premier League title win.
2010: David Silva, £24m
David Silva was a huge success, too – but perhaps proved exactly what kind of team the City Football Group were building.
The Spaniard was silkier than most previous buys, with a feel for the control of a game and the ability to keep possession for Citizens. He would come to define Pep Guardiola’s style when the Catalan was a mere pipe dream for fans.
2010: Aleksandar Kolarov, £16m
A major full-back buy from Serie A to bolster the backline, Kolarov was a sign of changing times: City were buying Wayne Bridges anymore.
Nearly 250 appearances across seven years made this transfer a sure success.
2010: Mario Balotelli, £24m
One of the brightest young talents in Italian football – and one that perhaps made neutrals root for City like never before.
Balotelli had the personality at a time when social media was just finding its feet: he only scored 30 times in 80 appearances for the club but did he help put them on the map? Perhaps…
2010: James Milner, £18m (plus Stephen Ireland)
Another stalwart England star who would break the Prem appearance record (and play in just about every appearance along the way).
City didn’t make anything on Milner’s exit to Liverpool, as the utility man went on a free.
2011: Edin Dzeko, £27m
Chelsea spent big on Fernando Torres, Liverpool on Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez… and City bought Edin Dzeko.
One of the more underrated Premier League strikers of his era, he managed almost a goal every other game while competing with several big names, returning 19, 15 and 26 goals in his first three seasons in English football. Money well spent.
2011/12
2011: Gael Clichy, £10m
Yet another Arsenal player joining, Clichy competed with Kolarov at left-back, giving City depth and experience in defence en route to their first title.
Again, Arsenal simply couldn’t refuse the offer, finishing a distant 19 points behind the Citizens.
2011: Stefan Savic, £15m
Serious bite at the back, Savic was only at City for a single season and is perhaps better remembered by some Mancunians as the Atletico Madrid player that Jack Grealish called a c*** in 2022.
The Montenegro international provided cover 12 times in the title run.
2011: Sergio Aguero, £36m
Once again, the most expensive player in a Premier League transfer window – and one that would send City’s fortunes soaring in one direction.
Sergio Aguero delivered the title in his first season, broke the club’s all-time scoring record and became the face of a generation for the Etihad faithful. He surely ranks in the top five signings of the Abu Dhabi era.
2011: Samir Nasri, £24m
Arsenal plundered once more, as City little-bro’d the Gunners a couple of weeks after Barcelona had nabbed their captain, Cesc Fabregas.
Proof that City were operating in a different stratosphere, as they took a proven Premier League difference-maker at a time where Arsenal were repeating their formula of bringing in little-known Ligue 1 talent to develop. Gervinho didn’t have the same effect.
2011: Owen Hargreaves, free
Just the one appearance after swapping the red half of Manchester for blue, but perhaps City were priming themselves for another Vieira-type signing.
Hargreaves’ body was letting him down by 2011 but as one of the most intelligent English midfielders of a generation, perhaps he was signed with an eye to becoming a coach one day. If so, he unfortunately chose punditry instead.
2011: Denis Suarez, £900k
An early sign that City were priming themselves for Guardiola, as silky Spaniard Denis Suarez joined the academy – but was a little too lightweight for English football.
He went to Barcelona B after failing to make a league appearance for City.
2011: Angus Gunn, undisclosed
One of the first of City’s nepo babies, preceding Jaden and Reigan Heskey, Floyd Samba, Devant Cole and… well, Erling Haaland.
City banked on Bryan Gunn’s boy being a chip off the old block – and he’s had a very successful career over the years. Just perhaps not Manchester City level.
2012: Costel Pantilimon, undisclosed
City really have tried to find a top goalkeeper early, haven’t they?
6ft 8in Pantilimon was another familiar Premier League face – but only after leaving City’s bench for a role at Sunderland.
2012/13
2012: Jack Rodwell, £12m
Snapping up the next generation of England’s team began to run a little drier with the signing of Jack Rodwell, who never kicked on to assume a Lampardian role for his country.
16 league appearances in two years followed before an infamous Sunderland spell.
2012: Richard Wright, free
Another older head that City perhaps had plans for coaching: Richard Wright didn’t make an appearance in four seasons, but is still a goalkeeping coach at the club.
Yet another former Arsenal player, by the way.
2012: Scott Sinclair, £6m
Another highly-rated young British talent who never quite reached City levels.
Sinclair played 15 times in his first at the Etihad, scored none and went on loan – before leaving for Villa permanently three years later.
2012: Maicon, £5m
Gareth Bale’s tormentor was 31 by the time he signed for City – but he was only ever signed as cover.
The Brazilian played nine times as City failed to retain the title, before heading to Roma.
2012: Matija Nastasic, £12m (plus Stefan Savic)
Considered the next Nemanja Vidic to some, but it wasn’t to be.
Natasaix was a squad player at best in his two seasons in England, never really threatening to become a first choice – but he did pick up a Premier League medal for his troubles in 2014.
2012: Javi Garcia, £17m
One-time Real Madrid talent and confirmation of City wanting to control possession a bit more – even if he never really made it in England.
Good money was spent on Garcia, though it was almost all recouped when he left for Zenit Saint Petersburg.
2013/14
2013: Fernandinho, £30m
A major acquisition in the history of City, Fernandinho was the destroyer in midfield that anchored the Centurions, allowing others to flourish ahead of him.
While rivals were shelling this kind of money for playmakers, it was intriguing for City to be doing the same for someone to protect the likes of Yaya Toure and David Silva going forward – and the Brazilian ended up being a masterstroke of a buy, eventually captaining the club.
2013: Jesus Navas, £15m
Either side of two Sevilla spells, Jesus Navas had an absolutely fine four years in Manchester, providing reliability up and down the right flank.
The introduction of Pep in 2016 somewhat changed his landscape, with the new boss wanting a little bit more than a linesman-like full-back – otherwise, he could’ve perhaps played a little longer in England.
2013: Alvaro Negredo, £20m
Manchester United signed Robin van Persie in 2012 to win the title – and he fulfilled the brief. So naturally, City signed two £20m+ centre-forwards to close the gap of 20 goals between the two Manchester clubs.
Negredo managed 23 goals in his sole season – though 14 of those came in the cups and Europe. They all count, mind.
2013: Stefan Jovetic, £22m
The other big-money striker of 2013, and the one who didn’t do as well.
Jovetic scored just six times but did win the League Cup with City in his first season, bettering his league tally in his second term, and going out to Inter Milan on loan.
2014: Martin Demichelis, £4m
A runner-up with Argentina at the World Cup, Demichelis provided additional centre-back coverage en route to the title.
He spent three years as a fringe defender in Manchester.
2014/15
2014: Bacary Sagna, free
Another former Arsenal defender, Sagna was one of the best full-backs in the league but didn’t want to extend his deal in N5.
He’d form a partnership with former team-mate Clichy on the opposite side.
2014: Fernando, £12m
Fernando was a regular in midfield, without threatening to disrupt the status quo.
The Brazilian only picked up the League Cup in English football and was shipped out after three years.
2014: Willy Caballero, £2m
Another older goalkeeper who became a coach at City, Willy Caballero only played 23 times for City in the Premier League but nudged Claudio Bravo from between the sticks to signal the Chilean as a failed experiment.
He’s also remembered as a Chelsea back-up (and the guy that Maurizio Sarri wanted to bring on in place of Kepa Arrizabalaga in the League Cup final).
2014: Eliaquim Mangala, £42m
The second-most expensive signing in the Premier League that summer (Manchester United panicked and dropped a bomb on Angel Di Maria).
Mangala lasted four years at the club and enjoyed the first title under Guardiola, but as the fourth-choice centre-back: all in all, an irredeemable signing.
2014: Frank Lampard, free
Do you remember how controversial this was at the time?
When Chelsea waved goodbye to Frank Lampard, they assumed he was heading to New York City and they’d never see him again… until he rocked up on loan at the Etihad, thanks to the two clubs having an affiliation.
At least he didn’t celebrate when he inevitably rescued a point against the Blues.
2015: Wilfried Bony, £25m
One of those rare Manchester United-type buys from City.
The Citizens were well off the pace in the league, with Chelsea leading the title race – so the Sky Blues reacting by paying huge money for a midtable hitman to bolster their attack. Bony scored just six times in the league before heading to Stoke on loan.
2015/16
2015: Raheem Sterling, £44m
The first transfer that really felt like priming the club for Guardiola’s arrival.
A club-record buy at the time (and an English record), Sterling had caught the brunt of Liverpool fans’ ire following their failure to go again after losing the title – and when he angled for a big move, he got his wish.
He’d become a defining player of City’s new era.
2015: Fabian Delph, £8m
“I’m not leaving,” Aston Villa’s Fabian Delph said when rumours emerged that he was having a medical at Manchester City. “I’m staying at the football club and I can’t wait for the start of the season and captaining this great football club.”
Anyway, Delph left for City, never really established himself in midfield but became a decent left-back option in time under Pep, while Villa got relegated.
2015: Patrick Roberts, £12m
One of the brightest young talents in the country, plenty was expected of Fulham’s Patrick Roberts – and a big move like this was seen as the logical next step in his career.
Roberts went on six separate loans in seven seasons – where he only scored more than one league goal in a season once, in Scotland – before leaving with just a single Premier League game at City under his belt.
2015: Nicolas Otamendi, £28m
Nicolas Otamendi was yet another big-money buy – and he only came good once Guardiola arrived.
The Argentina international looked particularly rash before Pep asserted his dominance in the league and stopped putting Otamendi in positions to lunge in.
2015: Kevin De Bruyne, £55m
The big one, really.
Kevin De Bruyne’s signing was yet another that smashed the transfer record for City – it was England’s most expensive deal of the summer – with the Belgian genius opting for a smaller-profile club in Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich (did the Catalan put a phone call in? Fernandinho reckoned so…).
14 major trophies, 108 goals and dozens of assists later, he might just be the most influential footballer in City’s entire history. Worth the staggering fee, and then some.
2015: Aleix Garcia, undisclosed
Yet another technically gifted Spaniard, as the club awaited the arrival in the dugout of formerly technically gifted Spaniard.
Garcia went on loan to Girona and was later signed by the CFG affiliate, as City went even more Barcelona-influenced.
2015: Ruben Sobrino, £400k
See above.
Don’t remember Ruben Sobrino? He signed for City and immediately joined Girona, where things didn’t quite work out. Worth the punt, though.
2015: Florian Lejeune, undisclosed
Yep, that one.
Lejeune was signed from – you guessed it – Girona, before heading back to Catalonia on loan. Never made the bar for the Citizens but did spend four years at Newcastle United.
2016/17
2016: Ilkay Gundogan, £20m
The first signing of the Guardiola era – a former Jurgen Klopp player – was one who would become a general in virtually every midfield role for his new boss.
One of the most underrated midfielders in Premier League history and one of the savviest buys of the Guardiola tenure: no wonder he signed him twice.
2016: Nolito, £14m
A relatively cheap Spaniard to offer threat in attack and on the wing, Nolito is the only player signed under Pep Guardiola who didn’t win a trophy at Manchester City. Ouch.
Nolito lasted a year, scored four league goals and went to Sevilla.
2016: Oleksandr Zinchenko, £1.7m
When people think of City’s success coming from the tens of millions spent on De Bruynes and Sterlings, they often overlook the Zinchenkos: rivals didn’t plough nearly as much money into youth talent.
The Ukrainian was a modest attacking midfielder signed as part of an ever-maddening drive youngsters. He may never had made it at the club, if not for a crisis at left-back, either: yet he established himself in the role, and City flipped him for over £30m. A real success story.
2016: Leroy Sane, £37m
One of Germany’s brightest talents, and one who City truly the saw the best of. Arguably the player of the season during the Centurion campaign, before injuries robbed him of that explosiveness.
Sane eventually moved onto Bayern, who were happy to come back in for him after a knee injury – but moving to Turkey before the age of 30 was a sad sight.
2016: Marlos Moreno, £4.75m
Signed as part of City’s aforementioned ever-deepening youth drive, Colombian Marlos Moreno was signed at the age of 19 and sent straight to Spain on loan.
He then went to on a further six loans – including to CFG outfit Lommel – before joining another CFG club, Troyes.
2016: John Stones, £48m
A defining buy in English football history, John Stones became the nation’s most expensive defender ever and signalled how Guardiola was planning to instil build-up into our footballing culture.
Stones left City arguably as his nation’s most accomplished defender ever, with his display in the Champions League final en route to a Treble the most unique that any English centre-back has ever performed. He’s been a rock for a decade for his country, too.
2016: Claudio Bravo, £15m
A controversial signing, as it meant the end of the beloved Joe Hart’s Manchester City career, with the England No.1 unceremonially dumped in Torino before climbing back through the wilderness.
Claudio Bravo could play with his feet – but never recovered from a Manchester Derby mistake and was relegated to No.2 before the end of his first season in English football.
2016: Aaron Mooy, free
Aaron Mooy signed from CFG’s Melbourne City, and though he never did play for Manchester City, he became a fan favourite at Huddersfield Town.
Further proof of an ever-expanding network: had he reached City levels, you’d better believe they’d have snatched him back.
2016: Geronimo Rulli, £4m
Another talented young goalkeeper snapped up as a youngster before heading out to Real Sociedad on loan – who liked him so much, they paid City to have him permanently.
Now… back at City as a No.2. Funny how things work out.
2016: Pablo Mari, undisclosed
Another talented young defender snapped up and shipped out to Girona to improve City’s sister project.
Never made a single City appearance, going on loan three times before a leftfield move to Flamengo, before former City coach Mikel Arteta bought him for Arsenal.
2016: Rabbi Matondo, undisclosed
A bid for the next Bale, Rabbi Matondo was tearing things up in Cardiff’s academy and for Wales’ youth teams.
A year after Sancho had swapped Watford for Sky Blues, Matondo followed – and would follow his lead later, too: neither of them played for City’s first team, but both would depart for the Bundesliga, where they’d make their names.
2017: Gabriel Jesus, £27m
It’s easy to forget how exciting Gabriel Jesus was in Brazilian football, and £27m marked a significant outlay for a player straight from South America.
Had he not have suffered terrible injuries (both in Manchester and London), perhaps we could’ve been talking about Brazil’s defining footballer post-Neymar – but City still made a healthy profit on a striker who never established himself as first-choice, yet still contributed to four titles. That’s how you Moneyball.
2017/18
2017: Bernardo Silva, £43m
Paying over £40m for a player after his breakout season felt like a jump in terms of valuation: it was a sign of things to come.
Soon after Bernardo Silva moved, Neymar broke the transfer market, and the Portuguese made his fee look like an absolute bargain, becoming whatever Pep needed in midfield, on the right, or even at left-back on an occasion or two. It pays to slightly overpay when the market’s about to inflate.
2017: Ederson, £35m
City got a lot of stick at the time for replacing Bravo just a year into his City career, spending a Premier League record on a goalkeeper in Ederson.
The Brazilian turned out to be worth every penny, however – and when Alisson and Kepa both moved for twice the money, no one even remembered how much City had spent.
2017: Kyle Walker, £45m
Tottenham Hotspur were always difficult to negotiate with, but City paid what was asked of them when they came in for Walker.
Once again, £45m became a bargain for a player who’d play over 300 times and win six Premier League titles at City. There’s a lesson, here…
2017: Benjamin Mendy, £49m
City plundered recently-successful Monaco when looking for Walker equivalent on the opposite side – to a very different result.
Benjamin Mendy suffered an ACL injury a month into the season and eventually replaced by the likes of Delph and Zinchenko – before being charged with several counts of rape and sexual assault (which he was later found not guilty of).
2017: Danilo, £27m
The third big-money full-back that Guardiola invested in, Danilo ended up playing on both sides over two seasons before Juventus signed him.
City made their money back with the sale, in what was becoming a regular occurence.
2017: Eric Garcia, £1.5m
City’s very own Gerard Pique, Eric Garcia moved from La Masia before making the return to Barcelona a few years later on a free transfer.
The relationship between the two clubs really deepened in this time, before the likes of Ferran Torres, Ilkay Gundogan and Joao Cancelo would all go to Camp Nou from Eastlands.
2017: Douglas Luiz, £10m
Eventually winding up in the Midlands, Douglas Luiz was another signing bought to help out Girona.
The Brazilian had established himself in his homeland and never actually made an appearance in sky blue – due to the UK Home Office denying him a work permit – before Aston Villa signed him.
2018: Aymeric Laporte, £57m
Once again, City paid a little over the going rate for a player before everyone else did.
Aymeric Laporte bedded in during the Centurion season before leading the club to another title a year later alongside Kompany. In five-and-a-half seasons in Manchester, he was one of the best defenders in the league.
2018: Jack Harrison, undisclosed
A Stoke-born former Liverpool and Man United youth player who wound up in the United States playing college soccer, Jack Harrison was signed by NYCFC before the flagship brought him to the Etihad.
Once again, never played a game for Man City: but Harrison had four loans (three at Leeds) before joining the Whites permanently for £11m.
