Manchester City’s rise to the top of European football has been years in the making after Emirate royal Sheikh Mansour completed his takeover of the club back in September 2008. The riches that came with City’s takeover immediately thrust the club into transfer battles with Europe’s elite as they signed superstars such as Robinho, Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero among others.
They’ve gone from strength to strength since Roberto Mancini won City’s first Premier League title back in 2012. Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker, Ederson, Rodri, Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland are just some of the superstar names to have made the move to the Etihad.
City usually get their way when it becomes clear they’re interested in signing someone. But there have been some occasions where City have been unable to get an agreement over the line. Express Sport takes a look at 14 players who came close to signing for City before a deal broke down.
Liverpool broke the bank to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in January 2018 in a deal worth a staggering £75million.
But City were also in the race to sign Van Dijk with chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak revealing they were not prepared to meet the high asking price.
Before Haaland arrived at the Etihad, City’s full focus was on trying to prise Harry Kane away from Tottenham.
The summer-long pursuit in 2021 ended in frustration for City as Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy refused to budge on his £150million demand despite indication from Kane’s camp that he wanted to leave.
The 2008 summer transfer window was when City truly announced themselves as contenders with Europe’s elite as they eventually managed to bring in Brazilian superstar Robinho, but Ronaldinho was originally their top target.
A delegation from the club even travelled to Barcelona to hold talks with Ronaldinho, but the Brazilian turned down record wages said to be worth £200,000 per week.
Manchester United icon Ryan Giggs could well have plied his trade for their bitter rivals City if the club listened to Dennis Schofield, who was a former scout for the Citizens.
Speaking in 2013, Schofield revealed that he ended up leaving his role with City due to the club’s mistake in not signing him up at 14.
The Messi-Guardiola reunion unfortunately never came true for City fans but Al Mubarak revealed in 2018 that the club tried everything to bring him to the Etihad by offering to triple his wages.
The Argentine superstar is now plying his trade in the MLS with a move to the Premier League all but dead in the water now.
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