Manchester City have been the biggest spenders in world football ever since Sheikh Mansour took over. From Kevin De Bruyne to Ruben Diaz the Citizens never shy away from spending the big bucks. Four such signings have been instrumental in turning Manchester City into giants of world football and coincidentally all four were announced on the very same day.
On 14th July 2009, Manchester City signed Carlos Tevez from city rivals Manchester United. The striker was one of the first ten players signed under their new ownership. The signing was a statement from the blues as Teves refused a renewal with United to join City. Tevez was instrumental in City's early success namely the F.A. Cup in 2011 and Premier League the following year. The Argentine also served as club captain for Manchester City for a season before Vincent Kompany took over. Despite inspiring on-field heroics, drama off the field including multiple transfer requests and controversies meant that Tevez doesn't quite have the legendary status at the Etihad like his colleagues Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva. One of the biggest controversies was when the striker allegedly refused to come on as a substitute against Bayern Munich and was subsequently fined and suspended by manager Roberto Mancini. Tevez' contribution to the announcement of Manchester City as genuine trophy contenders is immense and something that will always be a part of the Manchester City folklore.
On 14th July 2010, Manchester City completed the signing of David Silva. At that time the 24-year-old attacking midfielder was already a regular with Valencia and had played a small part in Spain's World Cup win. The signing of Silva may not have been a statement like Tevez' but it had twice the impact. The playmaker is widely considered as one of the best midfielders in modern Premier League history. The Spaniard went on to collect a plethora of trophies at the Etihad including four Premier League titles. The midfielder ended his ten year long Manchester City career with over 300 appearances and became a part of City's first batch of Premier League era legends along with Vincent Kompany, Joe Hart, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure.
On 14th July 2015, Manchester City signed Raheem Sterling for an initial £44 million after Sterling had just lost the Premier League to Manchester City as Liverpool. The signing was made at a time when the Liverpool-Manchester City rivalry was just starting to heat up. The Englishman came as a young winger with bags of potential and thus far has lived up to expectations at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola has transformed Sterling into a world-class forward. Sterling has gone on to achieve great international success along with club success while at Manchester City. Sterling who is just 26 years of age has a lot of football left in him. The winger has a very good chance of becoming an all-time great at Manchester City. If Carlos Tevez was a statement signing and David Silva was an impact signing, Raheem Sterling was a combination of both.
On 14th July 2017, Manchester Spent £45 million on Kyle Walker. Walker was a part of Pep Guardiola's full-back revolution in which the city manager sold all four of his first-team full-backs and signed 3 new ones after failing to win a trophy in his first season. At Manchester City, Kyle Walker became the best fullback in the Premier League. Guardiola made Walker into a rock-solid defensive full-back. The Englishman's impact at Manchester City has been fairly under the radar. Walker has been one of the first names on the team sheet since his arrival. The right-back has already won 10 trophies at the Etihad and being 31 years of age has shown no signs of slowing down.
