It was an exciting night at Eastlands last night, even if we did leave slightly disappointed. I think the novelty of the Champions League and our appreciation for just being in the competition was felt all around the Etihad Stadium. I thought I’d take a bit of time today to recognize some of the signings we’ve made that have led us to this point, not just in the last couple of years since Sheikh Mansour took over the club, but also over the past 17 or so years since I have been a City Supporter. So here, in my opinion, are the 5 best signings City have made in the last 17 years – not in terms of just quality, but also in terms of value for money and importance to the club.
5. Ali Benarbia
Kevin Keegan signed Benarbia from French club PSG for a grand total of £0, and although he only stayed with us for a couple of seasons, he was instumental in our promotion back to the Premier League after dropping out the year before. It may be my blue-tinted glasses but I remember Benarbia as one of the best passers of the ball I’ve ever seen.
4. David Silva
Anyone that’s read a few of my other posts in the past or my tweets, will know that I am a bit of a fan of David Silva. We reportedly paid around £25 million for Silva so he doesn’t represent as frugal an investment as the other members of this list but he is right up there in terms of value for money. Imagine how much you’d have had to pay for Iniesta in his absolute prime a couple of years ago to prize him away from Barcelona. For a man so slight, Silva keeps the ball better than most others in the World and his distribution is second to none. One of the major reasons we qualified for the Champions League this year – I’m baffled as to how he didn’t win the player of the season last term.
3. Shaun Goater
The man this blog is named for and an undisputed City hero, Leaonard Shaun Goater (I had no idea that was his first name?) arrived from Bristol City for £400’000 by Joe Royle and immediately started banging in the goals, including the crucial winner in our Division 2 play-off semi against Wigan.
2. Vincent Kompany
The man that kept Silva from winning the player of the season award was a shrewd investment indeed. Bought for a mere £6 million pounds to play in midfield by Mark Hughes, he has evolved into one of the most accomplished centre backs in the division.
1. Joe Hart
At around the same time that United paid £18.6 million for Michael Carrick (I know!), City snapped up a young goalkeeper from Shrewsbury. Hart was fairly highly rated at the time but now he’s firmly established as number 1 for club and country we are seeing what unbeleivably good value that £600’000 we paid was.
So what do you reckon of my top 5 – are there any others that would usurp this lot?
A Man City fan since the age of 14 and lover of both watching and playing football football since I can remember, I've spent a decade and a half watching City enthrall, excite and disappoint me in equal measures.
