10 Players You Probably Didn't Know Man City Almost Signed
As the saying goes, money can’t buy you everything.
When the mysterious tycoons of Abu Dhabi shared their gargantuan wealth with the relative minnows of Manchester in August 2008, a metaphorical grenade was cast into the top-tier mix of the Premier League. With the club forever living in their cross-city rivals shadow, Sheikh Mansours injection of funds suddenly opened the door to a plethora of opportunities.
No longer was the club discussing moves to extend the contracts of Darius Vassell and Nedum Onuoha. No longer were the blue half of Manchester bracing themselves for another summer of chief executive Garry Cook desperately trying to coax famous, washed up faces to the club in a bid to mask the lunacy of the Thaksin Shinawatra regime. Suddenly, the ilk of David Villa and Franck Ribery were being linked with Eastlands, a new lease of life having been breathed into the noisy neighbours.
Predictably, City have shelled out a minor fortune in attracting an array of world-class talent to the club. At the same time, however, there have been players who have turned down the advances of the oil-fuelled club, spurning the opportunity to become the faces of the City revolution. With Robinhos failed venture at Eastlands having sent flashing warning signals to many of the elite players within world football, there have been a large list of players who have decided that they rather valued their careers over their bank accounts. As well as that, there have been some jaw-droppingly talented players who came to within an inch of signing for the Mancunians, only for managers to get the boot, European heavyweights to make a last-minute swoop, and even a couple of interventions from their bitter cross-city counterparts.
Take a look at our list of impeccably talented footballers who Manchester City supporters will rue having missed out on. As the saying goes, money cant buy you everything.