City have been very active in the transfer window this summer and today confirmed yet another signing, with the capture of Argentinian defender Nicolas Otamendi from Valencia.
With Otamendi taking on the not so illustrious No.30 shirt, we take a look at three other players who were handed the very same shirt number upon their arrival at the club.
Bernardo Corradi
The Italian turned out for City but will go down in the memory of Blues supporters for the wrong reasons rather than the right. Back in 2006, Corradi penned a three-year deal with City and having had plenty of experience with some well-respected sides in Europe, it was hoped he could give City the lift they needed.
But a sending off in his first game against Chelsea in 2006/07 killed that almost immediately. He finally got off the mark for City with a double against Fulham in November, yet was soon at his calamitous best with another dismissal in the Manchester Derby a month later.
It was thought that the arrival of Sven-Goran Eriksson as City boss would have a positive effect on the Italian but despite an impressive pre-season campaign in the summer of 2007, he soon found himself back in Italy and is one of many odd and unsuccessful signings for City.
Nery Castillo
When a player who would rubbed shoulders with Rivaldo at Olympiacos and was once the most expensive purchase for a Ukrainian Club, joined City on loan, City fans were right to be excited. Shakhtar had paid 20 million euros to secure the Mexican in July 2007 and his loan move to City included an option to buy.
Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov hinted that the fee would be quite substantial too, saying “the price could be 20, or 30, or 40, or 50 million euros”
Castillo was so intent on trying his luck in England that it was even reported that he paid half of the loan fee himself.
All the signs were there for a positive contribution but much like Corradi, Castillo had a horrible start to life in England after being stretchered off with a broken shoulder in his first appearance at Eastlands.
Although he was clearly gifted, he never nailed down a first-team spot and he returned to Shakhtar once his loan expired and has since come up against City in 2011 when the Blues met Aris in the Europa League.
Christian Negouai
Bizarrely, when the Frenchman signed for Manchester City, Kevin Keegan described him as “the most exciting player” he’d ever signed.
Again he is one player to have worn the No.30 shirt in his time in Manchester and his stint too was unfruitful.
But he did at least have a better debut than the other two, Negouai punched the ball into the net in a Division One match against Rotherham and somehow the goal stood.
However, from then on, he provided not much more than a sequence of injuries and red cards, and although things were much better in the reserve side, missing a drugs test didn’t help his cause in any way.
It was fair to say that he did not live up to Kevin Keegan’s billing – making a meagre four starts in four years at the club.
Let’s hope our latest signing does not follow the path of the trio in this article. But in all seriousness, can he do much worse?!
