Man City’s 10 biggest transfer sale mistakes

Martin Macdonald

16 Oct 2023 01:54 CDT
6 min read

Since the Abu Dhabi takeover over a decade ago, Manchester City have been one of the richest clubs in the world, spending big not only on transfer fees but wages too.

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With the club now able to attract some of the world's best players, it is a rarity that stars or potential stars are allowed to leave when they could have made a contribution to the first-team.

It has happened, though, both before the takeover and after.

So, here are 10 players that Man City probably should have kept for a little while longer.

Nicolas Anelka - €7.2m (Fenerbahce, 2005)

Man City may have assumed they’d seen the last of Nicolas Anelka when they shipped him off to Turkey in the summer of 2005, but that certainly wasn’t to be the case when he arrived back in England three years later to play for Bolton and then Chelsea.

In that period the French striker scored no less than 82 goals and 47 assists for both clubs, as he ran amok in the English top flight and made it painfully clear that he was far from finished as a Premier League striker.

Perhaps someone should have told Man City that before they sold him for a rather small sum.

David James - €1.7m (Portsmouth, 2006)

David James had already established himself as one of the best English keepers around by the time he left Manchester City in Portsmouth in 2006.

It arguably wasn't until he played for Portsmouth that he found his best form, though, as it was while with Pompey that he became England's undisputed number one goalkeeper under Fabio Capello.

Indeed, he started all 13 of the Italian's first games in charge of England.

It was not a performance-related issue that saw James leave City in the first place, but rather a personal one as it was his wish to move down south to be closer to his children.

Kasper Schmeichel - Free (Notts County, 2009)

Manchester City have spent a fortune on goalkeepers since the takeover, whether it be Willy Caballero, Zack Steffen, Shay Given or Ederson, a lot has been spent on plugging the large hole between the posts.

However, the club could have avoided all that trouble and needless expense by giving a young goalkeeper in their youth ranks by the name of Kasper Schmeichel a shot at the No.1 jersey.

Since letting him leave for Notts County in 2009, the Danish shot-stopper proved his worth at Notts County, Leeds and Leicester City, where he helped the Foxes achieve the unthinkable and win the Premier League title.

At the very least, City could have sold Schmeichel for a decent fee rather than lose him for free.

Daniel Sturridge - €7.3m (Chelsea, 2009)

There will always be a sense of 'what could have been' regarding Daniel Sturridge.

As an instinctual finisher, he proved in his time at Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers that he could be as devastating as most other top forward in the Premier League. Injury issues ravaged his career but the talent was there for all to see.

© ProShots - Daniel Sturridge at Liverpool

His actual departure from City was a controversial one, too, as the club did not want him to go and they actually took Chelsea to a tribunal to seek compensation for the move.

Sturridge left City on a free transfer, but the club earned around €7.3m in total compensation as they were the club who trained him through his youth.

Jerome Boateng - €13.5m (Bayern Munich, 2011)

There’s little doubt that Jerome Boateng left Man City as an error-prone central defender and few would have predicted the kind of player he would go on to become.

Under Jupp Heynckes and then Pep Guardiola, the German player was moulded into a modern defender with all the defensive attributes necessary for the top of the game but also a remarkable range of passing too.

In his 10 years in Munich, Boateng won nine Bundesliga titles, five German Cups and two Champions Leagues. All while Man City spent hundreds of millions of pounds on an array of central defenders.

Stefan Savic - Free (Fiorentina, 2012)

Stefan Savic did not excel in his time at Man City, so much so that the club were willing to let him part without a transfer fee being exchanged.

Savic made a huge impact at Fiorentina, helping them to the semi-final of the 2014/15 Europa League as well as three consecutive fourth-place finishes in Serie A.

He would earn a move to Atletico and his performances eventually impressed so much that he ousted veteran Diego Godin out of the starting XI to form a La Liga-winning partnership with Jose Gimenez.

Carlos Tevez - €9m (Juventus, (2013)

Carlos Tevez's troubles at Man City were well-documented and emerged from a Champions League match against Bayern Munich in which he allegedly refused to come on as a substitute.

He was suspended and fined by the club and although he would return to first team-action, even playing a part in winning the Premier League, his days at the club were numbered.

After a move to Boca failed to materialise, he would eventually join Juventus.

In Turin, he showed he could still play at the highest level as the Argentine emerged as Juve's top scorer as they went on to win the Scudetto.

Leroy Sane - €49m (Bayern Munich, 2020)

Leroy Sane was one of the best wingers in world football at Man City and after a slow start at Bayern, he once again fits that tag.

© ProShots - Leroy Sane signed for Bayern Munich in 2020

Pep Guardiola spent €117.5m on Jack Grealish the summer after Sane's departure and it's fair to say the Englishman hasn't quite made the same devasting impact at the Etihad as the Germany international.

Oleksandr Zinchenko - €35m (Arsenal, 2022)

Oleksandr Zinchenko had established himself as a valuable first team player under Guardiola at City, filling in virtually all over the pitch, from left-back to false nine, so some eyebrows were raised when Arsenal signed him in 2022 for €35m.

The Ukrainian left to join the Gunners along with Gabriel Jesus and both players began their careers in North London in sensational form, however it's Zinchenko who City may regret letting leave considering how well he has slotted in at left-back for Arsenal.

The Gunners weren't able to win the Premier League in Zinchenko's first season, but his arrival helped Mikel Arteta's side jump from top four challengers and title contenders.

Romeo Lavia - €22.3m (Southampton, 2022)

In the same summer that saw Raheem Sterling, Jesus and Zinchenko leave, Man City also sold Romeo Lavia to Southampton for €22.3m.

One year later, after establishing himself as one of the league's most talented young midfielder, the Saints sold him to Chelsea for a huge €62.1m.

Not only could Man City use Lavia given their over-reliance on Rodri, but they could have also sold him for a far higher fee had they loaned him out instead.