With Manchester City announcing the signing of Raheem Sterling today, the main talking point is not his ability or what he could bring to the team, but the rumoured £49 million transfer fee. Since this discovery, the majority of Manchester City fans are shocked by the amount which the club are having to pay for a young English player, however, this was expected as the price of English players nowadays always comes with a premium. This is not the first time Manchester City fans have not been shocked by transfer fees since Sheikh Mansour took over the club in September 2008, there have been a few signings whose fees have raised eyebrows and some have not paid off.
Stefan Savic is a player who arrived in July 2011 for £6m. Savic’s name was one which was unknown to City fans and was one of the least expected players to be added to the FA Cup winning team of 2010/11. There was some hope behind Savic as he was someone who with the right support could develop into a top defender. However, his downfall began at the League Cup semi-final against Liverpool in January 2012 being outplayed by the likes of Andy Carroll and Steven Gerrard. Savic’s downfall continued during the match as he gave away a penalty which led to Liverpool winning the tie 1-0. The defender was never the same again and he was a player which City fans hoped would leave in the 2012 summer transfer window. Savic did exactly that, leaving Manchester City for Fiorentina as part of a deal where in return City signed Matija Nastasic who proved to be a success in the 2012/13 season however he was never a main player in Pellegrini’s squad.
2012 was year where City won the Premier League title but the signings which were made following this achievement were ones which did not take the squad to the next level. Jack Rodwell’s £12m move was one with a lot of promise as it seemed Mancini wanted to create an English presence in the squad as City’s title win led to criticism from journalists and other football fans for having a squad mostly made up of overseas players. Again, the English player premium played a part in the fee; however, Rodwell’s injury record was one which plagued his time at Manchester City. After making appearances in the first two games for City in August 2012, he was injured until October and he fell victim to numerous injuries until his move to Sunderland on 5th August 2014 and he never made a massive impact despite being billed as a potential England superstar.
Javi Garcia was another midfielder signed by Mancini in the summer of 2012 for £15.8m. However, he was a player whose ability developed gradually until his exit in August 2014. Scoring a goal on his first team debut against Stoke on 15th September 2012, he looked a promising a player. However, as he was put up against more skilled midfielders and strikers, it was clear that he was unable to cope with the pace of the Premier League. Being played out of position did not help the development of his footballing ability, with Kompany’s injuries becoming more frequent, Garcia was often called upon to partner Joleon Lescott in the back four during 2012-13 season and his poor performances in this position was simply down to Garcia being ‘out of his depth’. Garcia eventually moved to Zenit Saint Petersburg in August 2014 for £13m, so at least one positive was taken out of his services with a rather large fee for a player who many thought should be valued under £10m.
To this present day Manchester City are still falling victim to large transfer fees. The most recent example being Eliaquim Mangala, the centre- back who was signed for a heft fee from Porto. However, he seems to be a player whose ability is developing positively as experienced players like Demichelis are able to marshal him at the back which was evident towards the end of last season. However, when he first arrived following a great start at home to Chelsea, he scored an own goal against Hull in September 2014 and that immediately led to fans demanding his exit. Pellegrini however seems to see something in this player as he is keeping him in the first team squad giving him regular starts.
The common theme amongst all these players is that they arrived from leagues which are not up to Premier League standard. With the likes of the Portuguese league being dominated by sides such as Benfica and Porto there is no competition between the teams; therefore a more relaxed approach is taken by the players. This has led to the likes of Garcia and Savic being shocked by the pace and tenacity of the Premier League eventually leading to their exit. Mangala seems to be the only exception as it seems that Pellegrini and Manchester City are devoting a lot of time to hopefully developing him into a world class centre back. Also, it doesn’t help that clubs are now aware of Manchester City’s vast financial resources; therefore European clubs will attempt to strike the most expensive deal possible.
In terms of the supposed £49m fee for Raheem Sterling, the fact that he is English immediately increases the fee along with City being a major rival of Liverpool. Sterling however has proven both domestically and internationally that he has an amazing talent, but his performance during the 2015/16 season will prove whether he can be a world-class player in a world-class team.
