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]

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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]

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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]

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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

4. Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) [2009-2012]

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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]

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Position : Striker

Joined from : Blackburn Rovers (£17.5m)

Transferred to : Malaga (Free Transfer)

Trophies won at Manchester City : Nil

Verdict : Disaster

6. Gareth Barry (England) [2009-2014]

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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]

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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]

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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

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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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

In our next part we will cover the signings of Roberto Mancini.

Let us know what you think of our verdict in the comments box below!

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