With the signings of Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero this transfer window, I got to wondering. These are two great signings for City, but have they always made quality additions to their squad? The answer, as with all teams, is no. Every fan can point out a handful of players that they wish their team had NEVER sat down and shook hands with.
Now trying to define a top ten worst signings for a club is tough. I mean do you go by the fee we paid compared to the performance we got? Or do you just count shoddy players no matter what the fee? How about if their attitude wasn't right, but they still sold a lot of shirts? You will disagree with some of my selections, have some of your own and may have even forgotten about some of these names.
Either way, enjoy a "Typical City transfer window."
10) Tal Ben Haim
The Israeli defender was signed on 30th July 2008 for a fee of £5 million and was the second signing of Leslie Hughes. He had previously played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bolton and Chelsea. He had been regular and solid at all three.
He didn't really establish himself in the first team and went out on loan to Sunderland. He didn't really even establish himself there either and at the end of the 2008-09 season he returned to City who promptly sold him to Portsmouth.
9) Ousmane Dabo,
Where to start with this one! The only reason he is at No. 9 and not higher is because at least we made a profit on him!
He left Lazio in 2006 and City snapped him up on a free transfer. However, that would be as good as it got. Three games in, Dabo was sent off after what I will call an "aerial challenge" on Steve Sidwell. His ban was for three months, however injury kept him out for longer.
When he did return from injury we only got 13 games from him before he was injured again. In fact, in the two seasons we had him he only turned out for City 25 times.
On the 1st May 2007 he and Joey Barton had a disagreement on the training pitch and a fight ensued. This left Dabo with injuries to his head and a suspected detached retina. Dabo requested the Police press charges against his teammates and Barton was arrested. He pleaded guilty but later stated that Dabo had initiated the attack. If this is true then City fans will be sad to know they missed the time that this guy showed emotion in a City shirt!
He later re-signed for Lazio with the fee believed to be around €263k.
8) George Weah,
Five years before signing for City, George Weah had won the FIFA World Player of the Year, European Player of the Year AND African Player of the Year.
He only played for City 11 times and scored four goals. He became upset with then Manager Joe Royle for selecting him as a substitute too much so he left for Marseille.
7) Steve McManaman,
Signed by Kevin Keegan in August 2003, Steve McManaman, in his prime, was a good player. His achievement list will back that up. But at City, he was accused of being there just for one final pay big pay check. In fact, in his move from Liverpool to Real Madrid he was accused of the same thing. Also, the proposed move to America and the Metrostars fell down because the American side stated that "MLS clubs were keen to lose the reputation that top stars only arrive to play in America for a final swansong in their careers"
Nicknamed Steve McMoney-man by the City faithful, he no longer had the flair and speed that once made him great. His only saving grace was getting under the skin of Ferguson when Neville headbutted him and was sent off!
6) Robinho,
City's first big money signing in the new era started with a bang and ended with a fizzle. The £32.5 million transfer fee paid for the Brazilian left the footballing world reeling and the City fans excited, even if he wasn't sure at first who he had signed for!
Everything started off great with him scoring on his debut, and against the team he thought he had signed for, Chelsea. His first hat trick came against Stoke and he was given the Captain's armband for the tie against Hull as Richard Dunne was suspended. He ended his first season as City's top scorer, although it was an unimpressive total of 14 goals.
His second season didn't go well at all, he missed three months through injury and only scored one goal against Scunthorpe! After only 12 games of the season, he looked for a move away. First he was loaned out to Santos before being sold to AC Milan for less than half City's original outlay.
5) Lee Bradbury,
After only scoring 20 goals in 68 lower league games it was a surprise that Frank Clark would spend £3 million on a player such as Lee Bradbury. There again it is Frank Clark! But that is another slideshow for another day.
Nicknamed "Lee Bad-Buy" by the City supporters, it was his 10 goals in 40 games that was the most frustrating. In his last season at City he scored an embarrassing six goals and City were relegated. That would be the start of the worst part of City's history.
City recouped £1.5 million of the initial outlay and within a year of selling Lee he was moving on again. This time it was back to Portsmouth for only £900k!
4) Roque Santa Cruz,
He's the latest duffer to haunt the City hallways. Former manager Leslie Hughes really wanted this player and he didn't care how much it cost or how many bits were falling off!
To be fair though, he did light up the Premier League before under Hughes at Blackburn but he couldn't repeat the form at City. He started off quite well though with a goal in the Carling Cup and a brace in what would be Hughes' last game.
His appearances were limited by injuries and when he was fit, Mancini left him out. When RSC made it clear he wanted to leave Mancini made it clear that he wouldn't stand in his way. So back to Blackburn he went, on loan.
While at City he played 20 times and scored three league goals. At his second spell at Blackburn he went a whole nine games but never bulged the net once.
3) Georgios Samaras,
Samaras was signed by City in January 2006 for a fee of £6 million. Despite his (at the time) huge fee he failed to hold down a regular spot. Over his City career he scored 12 goals in 63 appearances. He seemed to be disinterested and easily bullied off the ball in the EPL and never really settled.
In Jan 2008 he left for a loan spell north of the border with Celtic. He did well there and made the move permanent the following July.
2) Bernardo Corradi,
Bernardo Corradi started his Manchester City career in fine style, getting sent off after two yellow cards. The second of which was due to his reaction to an incident involving Essien.
It took Corradi thirteen appearances for City before he scored his first goal. In fact, it was two of them against Fulham. Just like Manchester buses, you wait forever and two come along at once!
In December Corradi was again sent off, this time it was in the Manchester derby. Then manager Stuart Pearce was furious and said so in his after match interview. I cannot print exactly what he said but it was along the lines of "He is not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!" The City manager was clearly upset at what appeared to be a dive as Corradi attempted to gain a penalty. He subsequently lost his place to Emile Mpenza (who barely himself missed out on this list!).
With his discipline track record and having only scored three goals he was loaned out to Parma before eventually being released from his contract to join Reggina on a free.
1)Christian Negouai,
Yet another one of Kevins Keegans signings. Negouai was signed from Charleroi in 2001 for a fee of £1.5 million. The best thing about this signing was his last name, it had all five of the vowels in it and that was where the awesomeness ended.
There is probably still an inquest into exactly how this guy passed his medical before signing for City. Both his knees had to have major surgery on them and it is widely believed these were preexisting conditions.
He did turn out for Manchester City, but it was a mere 6 times from his signing in 2001 until his departure in 2005. In that time he scored just a single goal and certainly did not live up to the expectation that he was going to be in the same mold as a Patrick Vieira or Marc Vivian Foe.
City allowed him to go out on loan to Coventry (where he started just the one game) before offloading him to Standard Liege in 2005.
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