Man City's Final Team Before The Sheikh Mansour Takeover: Where Are They Now?

Before a takeover would pump hundreds of millions of pounds into Manchester City football club, they were a languishing mid-table side with little to look forward to. In the season that we're about to look at (2007-08), City finished 9th with 55 points - and that was with a £30m cash injection at the start of the campaign from their new owner, Taksin Shinawatra.

With Shinawatra came Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was appointed first team coach after parting ways with the FA following his brief stint as England manager. Eriksson was very active in the transfer window and brought in eight relatively high-profile players to the first team squad. However, the honeymoon phase for Eriksson was cut short after he was sacked for a poor run of results. He would be replaced by Mark Hughes on 2 June 2008, and it was Hughes who would manage the side at the start of the takeover era.

But one question you might have thought to yourself at one time or another is, what happened to the players who were around before this takeover? Did they remain in the background or were they ruthlessly shipped out to make way for bigger names?

Let's take a look at the final starting-eleven Manchester City had before the takeover.

#1 Joe Hart - Burnley

Burnley FC v Huddersfield Town - Premier League

Hart had only been at Manchester City for a couple of years following his move from Shrewsbury Town, yet he featured in 32 games across all competitions in the 2007-08 campaign. His huge part in the starting eleven came as a surprise to most people, as Hart was still young and inexperienced. Despite this, Hart showcased his talent for all to see and cemented himself in the first team squad.

However in the summer of 2009, Hart made the switch to Birmingham City on loan. Here, yet again, Hart proved that he was capable of being a first-choice goalkeeper and upon his return from the loan in May 2010, Hart would stay at City for six more years until 2016.

2016 was a tough year for Joe Hart, as the arrival of Pep Guardiola saw the goalkeeper get swiftly replaced by Claudio Bravo. Hart was sidelined for some time before being shipped out on loan to Torino. But here he failed to impress and came back without a solid reason for Guardiola to reintegrate him into the side.

Hart was given a final chance by Manchester City and was sent to West Ham on loan for the 2017-18 Premier League season, but it simply wasn't to be. He had taken the place of Adrian briefly at the start of the campaign, but following a series of blunders, the manager soon lost faith in him and restored Adrian as the first-choice 'keeper. Again, Hart was left to watch from the sidelines.

It wasn't until August 2018 that Hart was freed from the grasp of Manchester City, and he joined Burnley for £3.5m. He's played well for Burnley so far this season, but it's whether he can keep it going that'll decide his future from here.

#2 Vedran Corluka - Lokomotiv Moscow

FC Lokomotiv Moscow vs FC Spartak Moscow - Russian Premier League

Many people had forgotten about Vedran Corluka until he was called up to play for Croatia in the 2018 World Cup. There were questions about his ability and fitness now that he's 32-years-old, but the right-back proved everybody wrong with a strong performance throughout the competition, in which Croatia reached the final.

Corluka signed for Man City in the summer of 2007 from Dinamo Zagreb for around £11m. He was a young and highly-rated right-back at the time, and had impressed playing in Croatia before the switch, so expectations were high - and he delivered. Corluka featured in 43 matches across all competitions, which was a testament to just how crucial he was to the first team side.

Tottenham Hotspur became aware of his ability and acted swiftly, purchasing the defender for £12.3m in September 2008. Corluka remained at White Hart Lane until January 2012, when he joined Bayer Leverkusen on loan for six months. Upon returning, he was sold to Lokomotiv Moscow for £6.3m. He remains at the club to this day.

#3 Micah Richards - Aston Villa

Manchester City v Aston Villa - Premier League

Once a defender with bags of potential, Micah Richards' career has been one long decline to the point where he plays sporadically for Championship side, Aston Villa.

Richards was a product of Manchester City's youth academy and was promoted from the U18s in January 2006. He enjoyed the occasional good run of form and even played for England, but those days are far behind him now.

Like Joe Hart, Richards was given a chance to redeem himself with a loan move to Fiorentina in 2014, but he failed to produce anything of note and upon returning, was shipped out to Aston Villa on a free transfer.

#4 Richard Dunne - Television Pundit for BT Sport

Queens Park Rangers v Crystal Palace - Premier League

Part of Everton's youth system, Richard Dunne made the move to Manchester City in October 2000 for £4.5m. He went back on loan to Everton briefly in 2001, but returned the following year and stuck around until 2009.

In September 2009, Dunne was sold to Aston Villa for £6m, and he would stay with the club for four years. After this, he was practically handed to Queen's Park Rangers on a free transfer in 2013. Dunne had a poor run of form with QPR and ultimately decided that he was past it, and hung his boots up in the summer of 2015.

Dunne now currently works at a television pundit for BT Sport.

#5 Michael Ball - Retired

Another product of Everton's youth academy, Michael Ball played as a left-back for Manchester City from 2007 to 2009.

He was signed from PSV Eindhoven for close to £500k, after having moved there from Rangers in 2005. Ball makes this list over City's alternate right-back, Javier Garrido, simply because he played more matches during this campaign. Unfortunately, this turned out to be his only good season for City as he failed to deliver the following year and was subsequently released.

Ball remained a free agent for two years until Leicester City finally picked him up in the summer of 2011. But with such little gametime, Ball was surplus to requirements. He must have realised this as he announced his retirement in January 2012.

It's unknown what he's doing now.

#6 Stephen Ireland - Bolton Wanderers

Manchester United v Stoke City - Premier League

Stephen Ireland was brought up through the youth academy at City and given his first real chances in the 2007-08 season, when he was 21-years-old. He played the most games that season out of all the players on this list (50).

Ireland managed to stick it out at City for two years following the takeover, despite the sheer volume of high-profile players vying for his spot in the team. He had to work hard to keep his place, but ultimately lost out and had no choice but to move elsewhere.

Ireland joined Aston Villa in 2010 for £8.5m, but failed to find his feet. He was sent out on loan to Newcastle for a year where he made slightly more impact, enough for those at Villa to give him another chance. But it wasn't to be. Once more he was loaned out, this time to Stoke City for a year, from 2013 to 2014, before being sold to them for free in January 2014.

It was at Stoke City where Ireland had his most fruitful spell. He remained with the club for four years and often featured in the line-up as an attacking midfielder. In the summer of 2018, his contract expired and he found himself without a club for a few months, before Bolton Wanders swooped in.

Ireland remains with Bolton, who are in the Championship.

#7 Gelson Fernandes - Eintracht Frankfurt

Gelson Fernandes signed for Man City in 2007 from FC Sion, a team based in his home country of Switzerland. He played often as a defensive midfielder and was deemed as mediocre for much of his time in the Premier League.

Just a year after the takeover, Fernandes was sold in the summer for £3m to Saint-Etienne. He was just one of many players shipped out to cover costs of the new high-profile signings. Fernandes failed to find his feet with Saint Etienne, however, and was loaned to Chievo Verona for a year. He was then subsequently loaned out for six months to Leicester City in 2011, where he was basically anonymous. Yet another loan deal was agreed which would send the Swiss international back to Italy, this time to play for Udinese for six months

Despite these three big chances for Fernandes to impress those at Saint Etienne, he was unable to deliver. As a result, he was sold to Sporting Lisbon in July 2012 on a free transfer. But even here, he was unable to get many chances in the first team and was sent out on loan in January back to where it all started: FC Sion.

Upon returning to Sporting, he was sold for a measly £360,000 to SC Freiburg in Germany. The following year, he made the switch to Stade Rennais in France for £1.4m, but then returned to Germany to play for Eintracht Frankfurt, where he currently resides.

It's safe to say that things haven't been great for the Swiss international since leaving City.

#8 Dietmar Hamann - Plays for German amateur side TuS Haltern

Dietmar Hamann had enjoyed his most prosperous period between the 1990s and early 2000s, playing for teams like Bayern Munich (1990-1998), Newcastle United (1998-1999) and Liverpool (1999-2006). By the time he'd joined Man City in 2006, he didn't have a great deal more to give, and perhaps wasn't up to the standard required to play for a Premier League side. However, he had a good campaign in 2007-08, featuring in 45 matches across all competitions.

Despite this, he was released from the club just the following year in 2009. He was without a club until the summer of 2010, when he joined MK Dons. But even this was very short-term, and the German retired in February 2011.

He became the manager of Stockport County in the summer of that same year, but was forced to resign by November, following a poor run of results.

Nowadays, the 45-year-old plays for amateur German side TuS Haltern.

#9 Martin Petrov - Retired

Martin Petrov joined Manchester City from Atletico Madrid in 2007 for £6.3m, which immediately marked him out as one to watch. He was one of Sven Goran Eriksson's eight high-profile signings bought with the influx of cash pumped into the club at the start of the 07-08 campaign.

Petrov remained with the club for three years before joining Bolton Wanderers on a free after his contract expired. He was now 31-years-old and City didn't think they'd get anything else from him. But what he gave to Bolton proved that he had a lot left in the tank. Petrov was a dynamic winger who tended to cut inside a defender and cause havoc just outside of the area. For Bolton, he was a constant threat.

Another three years passed before Petrov moved again - on yet another free transfer - this time to Espanyol. Sadly this was a move that simply didn't work out and he left the club at the end of the season.

A couple of months later in October 2013, Petrov was picked up by CSKA Sofia, the club he started his career with 15 years ago. At the end of the season, he announced his retirement from football.

It is unknown what he's doing now.

#10 Elano - Retired

The Brazilian attacking midfielder was a force to behold at Manchester City. He had signed for them in the summer of 2007 from Shakhtar Donetsk for around £10m. He was a strong asset to their side in the 2007-08 campaign, but went quiet the second season. This led to him being sold on to Galatasaray for £6m in 2009.

From here, Elano was passed around clubs in Brazil for several years, playing for the likes of Santos FC, Gremio and Flamengo before finally settling at a club: Chennaiyin FC. He made this move in the summer of 2014, yet by January, he was back at Santos FC on a free transfer. What makes this even more strange is that he was shipped straight back to Chennaiyin FC on loan for six months, before retiring the next day on January 1, 2017.

He was appointed the assistant manager at Santos FC the very the same day, but by October, he had become the caretaker manager. This was a position he held until December that year, before he was sacked.

He's currently unemployed.

#11 Darius Vassell - Retired

Hull City v Manchester City - Premier League

Vassell was transferred to Manchester City in July 2005 for £2m. While he had a great first season with the club, the second year (2007-08) was a struggle for him. He failed to find his feet early on, and didn't show much sign of improving as the campaign developed. He had been moved out to a wide midfielder in the latter stages of the season, as Eriksson had adopted a defensive formation.

In the summer of 2009, Vassell was sold to Turkish side, Ankaragucu, on a free transfer. He only lasted a single season here before being released.

In October of that year, Leicester City picked him up as a free agent, and he spent two seasons with them before announcing his retirement.