5 huge transfers Manchester City missed out on

Ever since Sheikh Mansour took over the English club in 2008, Manchester City have made some of football's biggest transfers. They have made some incredible bargain-signings to acquire club legends like Pablo Zabaleta (for around £6.7 million from Espanyol) and Vincent Kompany (for about £6.8 million from Hamburger).

They've also refrained from hesitating to invest big in players like Sergio Agüero (£38 million from Atletico Madrid), David Silva (£25 million from Valencia) and Yaya Touré (£24 million from Barcelona), all of whom have developed into legendary footballers.

hey have also been left disappointed by a number of players who arrived with massive price tags but failed to live up to the expectations, such as Eliaquim Mangala (£32 million from Porto) and Wilfried Bony (£28 million from Swansea).

However, the few bad experiences from their ventures in the transfer market haven't stopped City from spending big for the players they want, and as a result, Kevin de Bruyne, Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling, Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Leroy Sané and Ederson Moraes have all arrived at the Etihad with transfer fees north of at least £30 million. Thankfully, they've all proven to be great buys.

Having said that, not always have City managed to bag the player they were interested in. Sometimes, they just haven't been able to lure their desired player to England. On other occasions, the player wasn't thought to be worth the required investment back then.

Either way, the three-time Premier League champions have missed out on some ridiculously good players in the past decade, and one can only wonder how much stronger they'd be today if those players had signed for them.

On that note, let us now take a look at 5 such marvellous footballing talents who Manchester City nearly signed, but eventually failed to:

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Special Mention: Paul Pogba (from Manchester United)

Paul Pogba had the time of his life at Juventus

We all know how Manchester United dug themselves a grave by letting academy product Paul Pogba leave for Juventus on a free transfer.

Pogba re-established himself as a super-talent in Turin and went on to live up to that potential, winning a Scudetto in every season he spent with Juventus, whilst also reaching the UEFA Champions League final. It took the Red Devils a then world-record £89 million to get themselves out of that grave by resigning the Frenchman in 2016.

However, a fun fact is that Pogba might never have had to relocate once his Manchester United contract ran out. Former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini admittedly is a fan of the French midfielder and revealed he rejected the opportunity to snap him up when he was out of contract. We can't understand why, and Mancini can't "remember" why.

The Italian said, in an interview in 2013:

"He is a player I really like. Two years ago, before he went to Juventus, we could have signed him for Manchester City on a free transfer. ‘To be honest, I can’t really remember why we decided not to."

Massive mistake?

#5 Alexis Sánchez (from Arsenal)

Alexis Sanchez was extraordinary for Arsenal

The potential switch for Sánchez from Arsenal to Manchester City was definitely one of the most popular open-secrets in recent English football history. Alexis looked certain to join Pep Guardiola's brigade, having played under the charismatic Spaniard at Barcelona too.

When City failed to wrap up the deal to bring Sanchez to the Etihad in the summer of 2017, it was termed merely as "delaying the inevitable." City were expected to comfortably bag the Chilean in the following winter transfer window. They were so close to signing him, that Kevin de Bruyne pretty much gave it away in an interview.

It turned out to be far from inevitable, as interest from fierce neighbours Manchester United eventually forced Sanchez to reconsider. The wages being offered by the Red Devils was extraordinary, and well over twice of what City were offering. In the end, Sanchez decided to head to Old Trafford instead, a move which made him the highest earner in the history of the Premier League.

With Pep and co. having cruised to the title anyway, and Alexis struggling to replicate his Arsenal performances, the Cityzens might feel like they dodged an expensive bullet. Either way, Sanchez was a tremendous talent to miss out on at the time.

#4 Eden Hazard (from Lille)

Eden Hazard is currently one of the league's brightest gems

Back in 2012, Eden Hazard had only just begun to announce himself to the footballing world. Playing for Lille in the French Ligue 1, 21-year-old Hazard was clearly head and shoulders above every other player in the division. Quite understandably, he generated a massive amount of interest, mainly from Premier League elites, including Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Like Hazard, Manchester City as a club too had burst into the scene that very year, having won their first Premier League title in dramatic circumstances. The City project had reaped it's first major reward, and Europe's biggest talents - including Hazard - were all interested in being a part of it. City were once the bookmakers' favourites to land the Belgian, and it seemed that the Skyblues were about to get the better of their cross-city rivals off the pitch too.

Hazard had himself confirmed his departure to England at the presentation of the Ligue 1 awards, where he was crowned the league's best player :

"I am going to Manchester. The decision will be taken soon."

Against all odds, however, it was another club - Chelsea - who arrived late into the picture. With Manchester City unwilling to meet Hazard's wage demand and United unable to convince him to join them, it was Roman Abramovich who snapped the forward up. Six years on, we all can safely say that Manchester City missed out on a truly special footballer.

#3 Daniele de Rossi (from AS Roma)

Daniele de Rossi is a Roman - through and through

Ever since Roberto Mancini's arrival in Manchester, the one player he had desperately tried to sign in every transfer window was Italian legend Daniele de Rossi. Mancini was almost obsessed with the defensive midfielder and often fantasized of managing him. He believed his countryman would be the perfect fit in deep midfield for his revolutionary Manchester City side.

Three years after his arrival in 2009, Mancini really gave it his all to get de Rossi to Manchester. He was prepared to pay over £30 million for the then 29-year-old and was also willing to offer him a £130,000 a week package. Sadly, de Rossi was in no mood to relocate. If anything could eclipse Mancini's love for de Rossi, it'd be de Rossi's love for Rome.

However, de Rossi did admit a couple of years back that he considered the prospect of joining City 'interesting', though it was largely affected by his fondness for the popular rock-band Oasis, the founder members of which are lifelong City fans. Thus quoting de Rossi :

''What excited me the most about that prospect, however, was the fact I could have met the Gallagher brothers.''

#2 Paulo Dybala (from Palermo)

Paulo Dybala is one of the best forwards in the world at the moment

Paulo Dybala first entered the frame in 2014, when he was scoring and creating goals for fun in Italy - for minnows Palermo. He had combined with Andrea Belotti to form a menacing strike duo, and people all around the globe were beginning to take note. Manchester City were one of the several clubs thought to be monitoring the Argentine closely.

To aid City's hopes of signing the mercurial talent, Dybala revealed his dream of wanting to play for either Barcelona or Manchester City.

"When I play with the Playstation, I always choose Barcelona or Manchester City. I dream to play one day with one of those clubs."

Fast forward to recent times, and Manchester City are still thought to be interested in him. The difference? Dybala is now a household name at Juventus and would cost the Mancunians about a hundred million more than he would have in 2015.

What happened in between is a funny story. City's director of football, Txiki Begiristain, was about to bid for (and secure) Dybala's signature - until manager Manuel Pellegrini raised his eyebrows at the move and suggested they go for a proven player in Wilfried Bony instead. Shambolic. Imagine how strong the side would've been had they nabbed Dybala.

#1 Ricardo Kaka (from AC Milan)

Kaka was the last player to win the Ballon d'Or before the Messi-Ronaldo era began

Upon achieving disappointing results from the stunning signing of Robinho from Real Madrid, Manchester City laid their eyes on another Brazilian to head their quest for revolutionizing English football. Kaka was at the peak of his powers back in those days, and any transfer involving the midfielder would have to be a big one. However, Manchester City left everyone struggling to find adjectives to describe their pursuit of the 'man who belongs to Jesus'.

City allegedly put on the table, for Kaka, what many analysts call 'the biggest offer in the history of football'. The exact numbers were never revealed, but it is believed to have been a £500,000 per week contract for the Ballon d'Or winner, which would have made him the highest paid athlete in the world back then.

Though it doesn't sound so today, it was unthinkable a decade ago. On top of that, City had reportedly offered £100 million to AC Milan for their lovable icon.

The transfer never really happened, although everyone involved in the negotiations had green-lighted the move - starting from the City hierarchy to the AC Milan board and even Kaka's father.

Unfortunately, the one person who was against the move was Kaka himself. He recently revealed the same and explained how he was unsure of committing to a long-term project like that of City's. The man who headed the great pursuit - former City chief Garry Cook - also later disclosed that Kaka regrets snubbing English football.

Kaka's career went downhill since that eventful January of 2009, and he eventually left Italy for Real Madrid. He was never the same player again, and City would be glad that their super-plan did not work.

They invested the supposed £100 million on players like Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure and David Silva over the next two seasons instead - all three of whom turned out to be huge hits. Nonetheless, it was a simply unbelievable transfer that Manchester City missed out on. Just a step away from real-life Fantasy Football...