Raheem Sterling joining Manchester City from Liverpool is a huge statement from the club - and a landmark transfer.

A fee of £49million has been criticised by many for being an excessive figure, even by football's increasingly bloated sense of finance.

It is the biggest figure City have paid for a player since the club was purchased by Sheik Mansour in September 2008 and takes the overall figure they have spent under his ownership to a whopping £719.1million.

Raheem Sterling has signed for Manchester City from Liverpool for a whopping £49million

Sterling's fee takes City's spend under Sheik Mansour to a formidable £719.1million since he arrived in 2008

Sterling is the 46th big-money arrival at City since Mansour bought the club and he cost City the most

In reality, it was always going to be a sizeable fee that would entice Liverpool to sell arguably their best player to a Premier League rival, regardless of how much Sterling was agitating for a switch.

The Reds were also negotiating in the knowledge that 20 per cent of any fee was to be passed on to Queens Park Rangers.

But it is a transfer that ticks a lot of boxes for City.

They replaced Roberto Mancini for Manuel Pellegrini in 2013 with the hope of developing a holistic approach.

At 20 years old, Sterling is a player that fits that mould. But with 129 appearances for Liverpool and 16 England caps already to his name, he can contribute immediately.

Argentina striker Sergio Aguero joined City from Atletico Madrid in 2011 for a fee of £38million

Spain playmaker Savid Silva (centre) is another notable addition, joining for £24million from Valencia

He is the 46th big-money arrival at City since Mansour took over from Thaksin Shinawatra and poured his billions into the club.

City have paid an average of £15.63million a player in seven years he has been owner.