City may have spent big over the past decade but they've also sold wonderfully well
Manchester City invested heavily to transform themselves from a mid-table Premier League into one of the best squads on the planet. Since Sheikh Mansour took over the club in 2011, they have been ready to spend big sums on the right player to get them where they want to be.
From Brazilian superstar Robinho on the day Mansour bought City, to the £100 million ($120m) British record transfer of Jack Grealish, the onus has always been on making the team stronger.
But as they have become more successful, City have become adept at handling the transfer market – walking away from proposed deals for Harry Maguire, Fred, Jorginho and Marc Cucurella, which they didn’t think represented value for money.
That has also seen them become more agile under director of football Txiki Begiristain, allowing players to leave the club and making significant profits on some of those that were thought to be surplus to requirements.
Here, GOAL runs down the most expensive players sold by the six-time Premier League winners…
Man City's biggest transfer sales by season
Season
Biggest Sale
Fee
Total Sales
2022-23
Raheem Sterling
£47.5m
£140m
2021-22
Ferran Torres
£47m
£85m
2020-21
Leroy Sane
£55m
£70m
2019-20
Danilo
£33m
£64m
2018-19
Brahim Diaz
£15m
£52m
2017-18
Kelechi Iheanacho
£25m
£52m
2016-17
Stevan Jovetic
£12m
£32m
2015-16
Alvaro Negredo
£23.7m
£61m
2014-15
Javi Garcia
£13m
£27m
2013-14
Carlos Tevez
£12m
£14m
2012-13
Mario Balotelli
£18m
£40m
2011-12
Jerome Boateng
£12m
£28m
2010-11
Robinho
£19m
£36m
2009-10
Elano
£6.5m
£28m
2008-09
Vedran Corluka
£8m
£24m
2007-08
Joey Barton
£6m
£9m
2006-07
David James
£1.5m
£4m
2005-06
Shaun Wright-Phillips
£21m
£22m
2004-05
Nicolas Anelka
£7m
£8m
2003-04
Matias Vuoso
£1.3m
£6m
2002-03
Dickson Etuhu
£1m
£1m
2001-02
Mark Kennedy
£2m
£6m
2000-01
Lee Peacock
£800,000
£1.5m
Man City top 10 most expensive salesGettyShaun Wright-Phillips | £21m | Chelsea | 2005
Many hearts were broken when City eventually allowed homegrown hero Wright-Phillips to join big-spending Chelsea in July 2005.
City were a different club then, finishing eighth and missing out on European qualification on the final day of the previous season, while Chelsea had just been crowned champions.
Unable to match the ambition of a player that had broken into the England side, Wright-Phillips reluctantly left, although he had a mixed time at Stamford Bridge.
He returned to the Etihad four years later for just £9m ($11m) and was part of the squad that delivered the first trophy in 35 years when City won the FA Cup in 2011.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesJadon Sancho | £21.2m | Borussia Dortmund | 2017
City bought the winger from Watford for around £500,000 ($600,000) and sold him at the age of 17 without him having played a single minute for the first team.
There was no doubt about Sancho’s talent as he progressed through the club’s Academy at the same time as Phil Foden but he was impatient to make an impact in the first team.
With a year left on his contract, he stopped training and Dortmund eventually signed him for £10m ($12m) and he quickly became a success in the Bundesliga.
Manchester United brought him back to the Premier League in July 2021 in a £73m ($88m) deal with City receiving a further 15 per cent in sell-on fees that earned them an extra £11.2m ($13.5m).
GettyAlvaro Negredo | £23.7m | Valencia | 2014
The Spanish striker’s time at the Etihad is curious in that he only had one season at City, the first half of which was incredible, and the second anonymous.
Negredo scored 23 goals in his first 33 appearances but injured his shoulder in a League Cup semi-final second-leg victory over West Ham in January that he didn’t need to play in with City already leading 6-0.
Over the next four months, he never scored again, although he ended the season with Premier League and League Cup winners’ medals.
He became a cult hero with the nickname ‘The Beast’, but was quickly moved on to Valencia on loan with an obligation to buy the following summer.
GettyKelechi Iheanacho | £25m | Leicester City | 2017
City beat a host of top European clubs to the signing of the striker in 2014 after he had just won the Golden Ball for the best player at the Under-17 World Cup with Nigeria.
Iheanacho broke into the first team under Manuel Pellegrini and became the youngest player to score a hat-trick for City in six decades when he struck three times in a 4-0 FA Cup win over Aston Villa.
With an injury to Sergio Aguero, he started Pep Guardiola’s first Manchester derby and scored the winner in a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford.
But, despite a decent strike record of 21 goals in 64 games, Iheanacho never managed to become a regular and left the club in 2017 for Leicester.