Before Manchester City committed £52million to sign Kevin De Bruyne, their executive committee examined more than 50 scouting reports on the midfieder.

They had been compiled over the past 18 months, with City’s team of 80 full-time and part-time scouts reporting to the club’s football admin officer, Brian Marwood.

Almost all De Bruyne’s performances for Wolfsburg and Belgium were analysed by City’s recruitment department. Each aspect of his life was assessed in line with a huge rethink of City’s recruitment strategy after the showy signings made immediately after Sheik Mansour’s takeover in September 2008.

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Kevin De Bruyne completed a £52million move to Manchester City from German side Wolfsburg on Sunday

The Belgian winger had been monitored closely by City since his return to German football

This is a new era at City, who are trying hard to eliminate expensive mistakes. They have become Manchester’s better-run club, adopting a sophisticated strategy that is different from the impulsive, scattergun nature of Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal and chief executive Ed Woodward.

United spent a staggering £58m on 19-year-old Monaco forward Anthony Martial and there are people at Old Trafford who believe Van Gaal has never been to see him play.

It is certainly a departure from 2012, when Sir Alex Ferguson claimed: ‘The world has gone mad — I find it quite amazing that a club can pay £45m for a 19-year-old boy’, after United were gazumped by PSG for Brazilian Lucas Moura.

Seven years on from the £32.5m signing of Robinho from Real Madrid, the perception that City continue to throw money at a problem irritates the club’s executives.

Sheikh Mansour (centre) and Co have been trying to eliminate expensive mistakes with a new strategy

Each aspect of De Bruyne’s life was assessed as part of a huge rethink of City’ s recruitment strategy

De Bruyne toasted his City move with a goal for Belgium against Bosnia and Herzogovina on Thursday

Last season, as the tension surrounding Raheem Sterling’s future at Liverpool increased, City moved quietly in the background to set up the biggest domestic transfer of the summer.

Sterling had been top of the wishlist — the four names in each position that are circulated among the club’s highest-ranking staff — for 18 months. Manager Manuel Pellegrini, Marwood, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain were in agreement that Sterling was their most wanted.

It may come as a surprise that they were prepared to spend more than the £44m it took to buy the England forward. City are convinced he was undervalued.

Manchester United splashed out £36m to secure to signature of French youngster Anthony Martial

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has made a raft of changes since joining the club last year

Spending extravagant sums is usually associated with City but they walked away from a deal to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus in the summer because of the fee.

They did not even get as far as Pogba’s outrageous salary demands because the Champions League finalists were quoting £73m for the France midfielder.

The spine of City’s squad remains largely intact, with Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero playing together since 2011. It cannot last forever and City are already planning for the future by beefing up their scouting network all over the world.

Former Liverpool star Raheem Sterling left Anfield in a £49m move and has settled well at City

City walked away from a deal to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus in the summer because of his huge fee

South America is the most recent target, with improvements and additions to the recruitment team and with City Football Group adding clubs in Melbourne, New York and Yokohama, there is a healthy exchange of information on players between the scouts.

They are not infallible and City still bear the scars of expensive imports such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Matija Nastasic, Javi Garcia, Jack Rodwell and Maicon.

They were flying by the seat of their pants back then, playing catch-up with United, Chelsea and Arsenal as they chased their Premier League dream.

Three years on from their first title, they are ahead of the game.

Manuel Pellegrini's side have made an impressive start to the season, winning their first four games

Vincent Kompany celebrates scoring during City's impressive 3-0 win against champions Chelsea in August

Time running out on Greavsie appeal

There are five days left of an appeal to help care for Jimmy Greaves following his stroke and the signs are that it will not come anywhere close to reaching £30,000.

As it is a crowdfunding initiative, the £11,255 that has been pledged so far will be returned to the people who have donated if it does not meet its modest target to pay for 500 hours of physiotherapy.

This really is an appeal for help, to assist a 75-year-old man who needs six visits a day from carers following the stroke he suffered in May.

Jimmy Greaves (pictured at Wembley in 2009) left hospital earlier this month following a stroke on May 3

Greaves is pictured recovering after his stroke on the crowdfunding page set up to help him

Greaves was a youngster at Chelsea (left in 1957) and went on to play for London rivals Spurs (right)

The former striker netted 266 goals in 379 matches for Spurs during a nine-year spell at White Hart Lane

Greaves has made progress and has been able to return to his home in Essex, but the reality is that the former England forward still cannot move his right arm or walk across the living room.

Friends say his speech is not good; that the old charm and the mischievous sense of humour are missing as this England great struggles to adapt.

His story has largely been forgotten, with a perception that he would make a full recovery after he was admitted to hospital in early May. Instead he is likely to need care for the rest of his life.

Rest of the World goalkeeper Lev Yashin dives at the feet of Greaves at Wembley in 1963

It is to Tottenham’s immense credit that they have stepped in to help, paying all Jimmy’s medical bills through the Tottenham Tribute Trust that was set up to help former players.

His feats remain undiminished, with 366 league goals in his career for Spurs, Chelsea and West Ham, along with 44 for the national team, standing the test of time.

With a record like that, it is not the moment to forget one of the game’s genuine greats.

https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/JimmyGreaves

WHAT I'M HEARING...

1. Ronald Koeman is reluctant to blood Southampton’s academy players in the first team but the project still wins admiring glances from other clubs.

Tottenham, where Saints’ former head of recruitment Paul Mitchell is employed in a similar role, like the look of winger Sam McQueen, 20.

He has yet to start a first-team game and will be looking to move on if he doesn’t make progress soon at St Mary’s.

Ronald Koeman is reluctant to blood Southampton’s academy players in the club's first team

2. The Premier League’s altruistic Elite Player Performance Plan aims to widen the talent pool at their clubs but it does not meet the exacting standards of Arsene Wenger and Louis van Gaal.

Both claimed at the Premier League managers’ meeting that the standard of academy coaching is nowhere near good enough, something highlighted by the lack of young players coming through at Arsenal and Manchester United.

Arsene Wenger believes the standard of academy coaching is nowhere near good enough

3. Daniel Levy is antagonising so many players at Tottenham that Aaron Lennon was prepared to sit out the remaining year on his contract if he was not sold to Everton on deadline day.

Despite the possibility of a January loan move if Levy could not come to an agreement with the Merseysiders, Lennon had decided to make life awkward for the Tottenham chairman if he did not get his wish in the summer window.