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Manchester City have made some waves with their fantastic recruitment strategy over the last two seasons signing incredibly talented players. In fact their big money signings like David Silva and Sergio Aguero have lit up the Premier League for a few years now and although there have been a few duds along the way, City have woven together some great players for a successful period post the Sheikh Mansour takeover.
Those that have been misses in the transfer market have arguably been spectacular blunders for City. City have been singled out for these signings before and it is claimed that City almost has always bought players by the price tags and not because of thorough scouting.
Interestingly enough most of these players are attacking players and it is not shocking that City went in for them but it is also proof that big names do not always work. That having been said let us take a look at the five worst signings made by Manchester City in the Sheikh Mansour era:
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#5 Robinho
Robinho is now more than a waste of top class talent, he is a convicted criminal. But before his days in Italy where the Brazilian lost his way completely, Robinho was at Manchester City for two seasons.
Signed from Real Madrid for about 42 million according to many sources, Robinho was labelled as the next big Brazilian talent after Ronaldo and Ronaldinho before him. The striker joined Manchester City on the day Sheikh Mansour completed his takeover of Manchester City.
He famously thought that he had signed for Manchester United, having been unaware of City's existence until he signed for them. But the Blues fans were excited to see a world-class talent in their kit and forgave his transgressions.
Boy were they disappointed! His first season yielded 14 goals which was a decent return and he finished as City's top scorer.
The next season saw injuries and what many believed a lack of desire ruined his first team chances as he was quickly shipped off to AC Milan in 2009 after two seasons at Manchester.
If one had ignored the price tag, his first season was decent enough to not rank it as one of City's worst signings but at 42 million, Robinho was an absolutely dreadful buy for Manchester City!
#4 Wilfried Bony
Wilfried Bony had managed a couple of great seasons at Swansea City and was linked with a move away from the Welsh club throughout the summer of 2014. However, he decided to stay at Swansea for the time being.
Manchester City were on the hunt for a backup striker in 2014 and in the January transfer window of the 2014-15 season they signed the Ivory Coast international to fill in for the injured Ageuro. Bony who had shown the capability of scoring goals in the Premier League was bought for 28 million which made him the most expensive African footballer.
He left for the African Cup of Nations almost immediately after his arrival and returned to make 12 appearances and scoring only two goals after having scored nine goals in the first half of the season.
The next season got worse for Bony as he failed to settle into the club and his confidence took a hit and he was shipped out on loan to Stoke City where he failed to make an impact once again.
Bony was supposed to fill in for Aguero whenever possible ahead of a string of misfiring strikers such as Stefan Jovetic but he failed to deliver at the club. He deservedly makes this list because of the magnitude of his failure at the club.
#3 Stevan Jovetic
The Montenegran striker was highly rated by his previous club- Fiorentina and it is understandable that City decided to go after the then 24 year old in 2013.
City believed that they had invested the 26.7 million well but Jovetic only made an impact sporadically both in terms of creativity and in his goal count. Though only 25, Jovetic fell down the pecking order at City and injuries worsened his chances of making the cut at Manchester City.
In 2015, Bony was signed from Swansea and Jovetic was left out of the Champions League squad for the knockout stages of the tournament which greatly angered Jovetic.
He left on loan to Inter and then signed permanently for them in 2016. Scoring only 11 goals for City in all competitions, safe enough to say that the striker did not have a great couple of years in Manchester.
Despite all this, Jovetic's overall impact could be forgiven had City spent less for him but at nearly 27 million, he is once again a costly mistake.
#2 Eliaquim Mangala
Mangala is a talented central defender who probably still has a long way to go before he is playing at his best and that is perhaps what cost Manchester City.
Mangala made his name at Standard Liege before a move to Porto where he impressed City's scouts. Manchester City swooped in for him in 2014 as a long-term successor to Vincent Kompany, who is extremely injury-prone. For a whopping sum of 42 million, Mangala was one of the most expensive defenders in history at the time of his move and the pressure was on him to do well.
The defender suffered through his first season and looked like a shadow of his Porto self, only briefly ever looking like actually settling into the club. Manager Pellegirini continued to show faith in him but mistake after mistake during key moments forced City to list him for loan him in the 2016-17 season with Pep Guardiola taking over at the Etihad.
Mangala was sent on loan to Valencia where he had a decent season and has since returned to City to find out that he is still out of favour. Despite his hefty price-tag, Mangala is ready to be shipped out after two and half seasons and it only means that City have got the wrong end of the deal for sure.
#1 Roque Santa Cruz
The Paraguayan striker had spent eight seasons in the Bayern Munich first team before proving his Premier League adaptability and skill for Blackburn Rovers, managing 23 goals in 57 EPL matches.
So when City went after him and had him sign the dotted line for 17.5 million, it seemed like an excellent deal for the Manchester club and for Cruz who had a chance to restore his career to higher avenues with newly minted City.
Santa Cruz took some time to settle down in his new surroundings and manager Mark Hughes was sacked and replaced by Roberto Mancini, who viewed Santa Cruz as surplus to his requirements.
In 2011 he was sent on loan to Blackburn and he never played for City again managing a grand total of 22 games and four goals in the four seasons of his official Manchester City contract.
Santa Cruz recovered since the City spell with Malaga but did not really find his groove again and has wandered between clubs in Spain before he made the move back to South America where he is still playing.
A disastrous spell for all parties involved and Manchester City want to erase this one from their memories permanently.
