Manchester City won their first Premier League title in 2011, thanks to Sergio Aguero’s 94th-minute goal, snatching the title away from rivals Manchester United in the final seconds. Since then, the Citizens have won seven more Premier League titles, dominating English football for the past decade.
Along the way, City have invested a lot of money in buying some of the best talent on offer, leading them towards this success, along with the appointment of Pep Guardiola in 2016, which has seen them become the real powerhouse of English football.
Player
Fee (£)
Jack Grealish
£98.4m
Josko Gvardiol
£75.3m
Kevin De Bruyne
£63.6m
Omar Marmoush
£62.8m
Rúben Dias
£59.9m
Rodri
£58.6m
Riyad Mahrez
£56.7m
João Cancelo
£54.4m
Aymeric Laporte
£54.4m
Raheem Sterling
£53.3m
Record signing Jack Grealish played a huge part in Manchester City’s treble-winning campaign, Kevin De Bruyne has won six Premier League titles with the club, and Rodri has even won the Ballon d’Or for his performances in the 2023/24 season.
But perhaps one of their best signings of all time, doesn’t even land in their top ten most expensive list, as City signed Erling Haaland back in 2022, paying £51m for the Norwegian striker.
Erling Haaland's impact at Man City
The 24-year-old has already made 137 appearances for the club since joining from Borussia Dortmund, scoring 119 goals, providing 18 assists and totalling 11,253 minutes played. To go along with that, Haaland has made 39 appearances for his country, already scoring 38 goals for them.
The 6 foot 4 forward became the quickest player to reach 100 Premier League goal involvements, doing so in just 94 games played, with only 16 of these 100 goal involvements being assists.
Haaland also now holds the Premier League scoring record, netting 36 goals in a single season, beating the previous record shared by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole (34 goals).
The Norway international has already proven to be worth his weight in gold, but City have added some extra quality around him in recent years, one of which could be considered their best signing since Haaland joined the club, and one who could be at Manchester City for a very long time.
Man City's best signing since Haaland
Man City signed Josko Gvardiol from Bundesliga side, RB Leipzig, for a fee of around £77.6m back in 2023. Since joining, the 23-year-old has made 83 appearances for the club, scoring ten goals, providing four assists and totalling 6,912 minutes played.
Stats (per 90 mins)
2023/24
2024/25
Goals
0.13
0.13
Assists
0.05
0.02
xG
0.10
0.12
xAG
0.06
0.08
Progressive Carries
2.54
2.68
Progressive Passes
5.74
7.53
Shots Total
1.05
1.04
Pass Completion %
88.7%
90.5%
Key Passes
0.75
0.85
Tackles
1.94
1.70
Interceptions
1.07
1.11
Aerial Duels Won
1.22
1.45
When comparing the Croatian international’s first season and second season, you can see a gradual improvement across most metrics, improving his progressive qualities, getting himself into more high-value positions (xG and xAG increase) and improving his passing accuracy.
Gvardiol was labelled “one of the best defenders” at the World Cup in 2022, with Jacek Kulig tagging the Croatian as an “elite talent”.
Coming through as a central defender, Gvardiol has now shown his versatility, often playing as a left-back for Guardiola, giving him tactical flexibility due to the defenders’ ability to fill in both in advanced areas and in defensive zones.
Having scored five goals in the Premier League this season, Gvardiol has shown his importance not only as a defender with exceptional recovery pace, but also as an attacking outlet, often finding himself in and around the box, providing the final touches and making the difference in matches.
It is for that raft of attributes that the flying full-back can earn the status of the Etihad side’s best signing since Haaland.
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1 ByJoe NuttallFeb 18, 2025