A row of 8 players whose careers were ruined after joining Manchester City will be reviewed by SportReviews in this article. One of them is a former Real Madrid wonderkid.
Since being acquired by Sheikh Mansour in 2008, Manchester City has immediately evolved into a terrifying club. The fantastic funding from the businessman from the Middle East has allowed City to shop freely for players.
Yes, recruiting top players is an instant way for Manchester City to build a strong team that can compete at the top of the Premier League. This has proven effective with a series of trophies that have begun to decorate the Etihad Stadium.
However, of the many top players who have joined The Citizens, not all of them have had good careers. It is not uncommon for top players who join Manchester City to experience career declines that even fall apart.
Here, SportReviews summarizes 8 players whose careers were ruined after joining Manchester City.
- Jack Rodwell
British society is certainly very familiar with the name Jack Rodwell. Yes, Rodwell is a midfielder who impressed with Everton. Even the name Jack Rodwell is predicted to be the future midfielder for the England National Team.
Unfortunately, Rodwell’s move to City in the 2012-2013 season dashed all these hopes. The injury storm made him play less minutes and unable to compete for the main squad in City’s midfield. In total, Rodwell only made 25 appearances at City before finally joining mediocre clubs in England.
- Nolito
Nolito was one of Guardiola’s first purchases when he was appointed as Manchester City tactician. Having gone well in the first eleven matches with a score of 4 goals, Nolito slowly started to become sluggish.
As a result, Nolito only lasted one season by recording 30 appearances and 6 goals. After that, Nolito was sold to a Spanish club, Sevilla.
- Stefan Jovetic
Together with Fiorentina, Jovetic appeared so nicely. Total Jovetic scored 40 goals in 134 appearances. This made Manchester City interested and bought it at a price of 26 million euros.
Unfortunately, Jovetic’s move to City did not end well. Jovetic failed to live up to the expectations of the Etihad public by only scoring 11 goals in 44 appearances. As a result City released him in the 2015-2016 season ago.
- Wilfried Bony
Wilfried Bony is a striker from Ivory Coast. Similar to Sinclair, Wilfried Bony also performed beautifully at Swansea City.
But when he moved to Manchester City, Bony could not adapt to City’s more attacking style of play. He only played 46 matches with 11 goals scored. After that, Bony was loaned to Stoke City before finally being returned to Swansea in the 2017-2018 season. Nevertheless, Bony still could not return to his best performance.
5. Scott Sinclair
Scott Sinclair performed brilliantly for two seasons with Swansea City. However, his experience with Swansea in the Premier League apparently was not enough to become his provision when he moved to Manchester City in 2012-2013.
Under the tutelage of Roberto Mancini, Sinclair failed to show a good appearance. He even only played 19 matches without a single goal. As a result he was loaned more to West Brom and Aston Villa.
- Eliaquim Mangala
Mangala is one of the defenders with a very good physique. Even while at Porto, Mangala became one of the most wanted defenders by European clubs, which made him recruited by Manchester City for a very fantastic price.
Unfortunately, Mangala failed to adapt to English football and performed poorly. Plus the arrival of Guardiola made himself even more eliminated. As a result, Mangala was loaned out more and ended up being released in 2019.
7. Claudio Bravo
Claudio Bravo became one of the important figures behind Barcelona’s success in winning the treble winner in the 2014-2015 season. But that glory suddenly vanished after Bravo decided to move to City in 2016.
However, during his time in City uniform, Bravo made many blunders, so he was often backed up. Then the arrival of Ederson Moraes in 2017 made him even more eliminated and ended up being released to Real Betis in the 2020-2021 season.
- Robinho
The name Robinho is one of the talented talents from Brazil. Unfortunately, Robinho consciously ruined his own career after deciding to move from Real Madrid to Manchester City in 2008.
Even though the first season went pretty well. However, after that, Robinho continued to experience a decline in performance. In fact, Robinho only played in 10 matches without scoring a single goal. What’s more, Robinho is also heavily backed up so he is often affected by ankle injuries.
As a result, after leaving City, Robinho returned to Brazil to join Santos and only traveled a lot in the Chinese League and Turkish League.
