5 of Manchester City's best signings since the Abu Dhabi takeover

Last weekend saw the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the takeover of Manchester City by the Abu Dhabi United Group. This was a move that has shaken up both the club and the league as their unprecedented spending has changed the complexion at the top of the table.

They were derogatorily referred to as the "Noisy Neighbours" (a term coined by Sir Alex Ferguson). However, the Blue half of Manchester propelled by the ADUG's billions have gone on to amass a collection of trophies, players, and coaches that would have looked like a dream before the takeover.

A total of €1.541.7b has been spent on players since Robinho became the first purchase of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan era (with the enigmatic Khaldoon Al Mubarak as chairman) and it has been an eclectic mix. The list of players who have come through the door at the Etihad Stadium has seen the good, the average and the very bad in an almost equal measure.

Here's a look at 5 of the very best players to have joined the Cityzens since the Abu Dhabi Group’s revolution arrived in Manchester (note that Kompany was signed 10 days before the takeover was completed):

#5 Vincent Kompany (2008 - Present)

Kompany has been Mr. Reliable for the Cityzens

Captain, leader and soon-to-be legend, the £6m the club had spent to bring in the towering Belgian in 2008 is probably the best value-for-reasonable-fee signing in the club's long and often troubled history.

Brought in as a defensive midfielder, Kompany was not expected to play a pivotal role following the club's acquisition. Other better-known and more expensive players were being mentioned at that point. However, the now 32-year-old grabbed his chance with both hands and has morphed into one of the best centre-backs in the league and, at a point, in the world.

No City fan can forget his header in the Manchester Derby which gave the Cityzens all three points in the 2011/2012 Premier League season. This victory swung the momentum firmly in City’s direction.

Strong in the tackle, brilliant in the air with a great reading of the game, his time at the Etihad Stadium has been marred by a lot of injuries. However, these injuries have not stopped him from playing a starring role in three Premier League title wins since he joined.

#4 Fernandinho (2013 - Present)

Fernandinho has been imperious since he joined

When the then 28-year-old was brought in from Shakhtar Donetsk for £30m in 2013, the feeling among pundits was that the Cityzens had been “had”. It was thought that he would struggle to cope with the pace and power of the Premier League.

These fears have proven to be unfounded and wide of the mark. The understated one in the starting midfield trio last season, he has been crucial to everything good that the team have done since he joined.

With his intelligent positioning, clean tackling, a keen sense of what is going on all around him and the ability to get stuck in if need be, he has been the cog that keeps the City wheel turning and has been ever-present in the matchday squads of Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola.

Under Pellegrini, he partnered well alongside Yaya Touré to help power the side to Premier League glory in 2014. Under Guardiola's tutelage, he has evolved and become an even better version of himself. While a very physical and mobile player, he has relied more on his positional awareness to snuff out opposition attacks or start forward movements for his side.

In a style reminiscent of Sergio Busquets, Fernandinho has evolved into the archetypal central midfielder, a player who combines both the destructive and positive attributes of the world’s premier central midfielders.

#3 Yaya Toure (2010 - 2018)

Yaya was a key figure in several title wins

The man-mountain, breaker of walls and all round-dynamo, Toure’s last couple of seasons may have been forgettable but his time at City certainly wasn’t.

Brought in from Barcelona for £25m after Guardiola decided to go with Busquets as his first choice defensive midfielder, it was thought that Toure would add steel and solidity given to the Man City midfield.

However, the Ivorian giant added a lot more than that. Mancini saw in Toure more than defensive abilities and gave him free rein to bomb forward. The result was an explosion of power, precision, passing, and goals as the player became one of the team’s primary sources of goals and assists.

Under Pellegrini, he continued gamely in this role and was undoubtedly the star man in the 2013/2014 title-winning season scoring 20 goals. While there have been certain unsavory incidents (the cake episode in 2013 and the allegations of racism leveled against Guardiola this year), Toure’s contributions will remain evergreen in the minds of Manchester City supporters.

#2 David Silva (2010 - Present)

Merlin is a player that will forever be in Cityzens' hearts

Magician, maestro, playmaker, genius, wizard and everyone’s favourite poltergeist, these and many other appellations are perfect for describing Silva.

When El Mago was signed from Valencia in 2010 (same season as Yaya) for £25m, his small stature and slight, wispy look was met with mocking by thick and not-very-intelligent British pundits. To be fair to them, he did not settle immediately as Mancini kept switching him between the flanks and behind the strikers; the trequartista role.

He took a couple of months to settle but when he did, the rest of the league was blown away by the quality he possessed. Calm on the ball with an eye for a pass, he was difficult to push off the ball and was at the heart of Manchester City’s every attacking move.

He was instrumental under Mancini and Pellegrini playing a starring role in the league triumphs under both managers. However, his game went up a level when Guardiola turned up and last season (in spite of his child’s premature birth), he got double figures in goals and assists for the first time in his career.

He recently announced his retirement from the national team where he had played with distinction and his City career looks to be ending in a couple of seasons. Blue Noses i.e. Manchester City fans will always have a place in their hearts for the Arguineguín-born genius they affectionately named Merlin.

#1 Sergio Aguero (2011 - Present)

Aguero has been the standout player of the Abu Dhabi era

No one else could conceivably have been atop this list other than Diego Maradona’s former son-in-law. The former Atletico Madrid player had taken to English football like a fish to water. It is not an exaggeration to say that were it not for the injuries he has suffered; he might be closer to Alan Shearer’s Premier League goal tally than he presently is.

The Argentine has been plundering goals for fun since he joined the Cityzens in 2011. Deadly in and around the box, with the close control, razor-sharp finishing and deadly runs that all world-class strikers possess, Aguero has consistently delivered 20+ goal seasons since his arrival despite the injuries.

He scored the most famous goal in Manchester City history (the Agueroooooooooooo goal at the last second of injury time which gave the club its first Premier League title since 1968). That goal alone earned him cult-hero status amongst City fans.

He has played in a front two (the Pellegrini era), has been benched for a while (under Guardiola) and the many injuries have almost halved his total number of appearances. That has not stopped him from scoring at an incredibly phenomenal rate; 201 goals in just 297 games (and counting).