Faltering Manchester City are desperate for solutions in light of their historically poor run of form that has suddenly put Pep Guardiola's future in doubt.
The club has had no trouble solving such issues in the past and has built one of the most fearsome squads ever. But the solutions are not so obvious these days as they already have a sea of stars and the man is considered by many to be the best coach of all time.
Getting that perfect signing can be easier said than done, as City know all too well. Even Guardiola has been dismissed at the Etihad helm in recent years, although more often than not City have had an ace up their sleeve as a back-up.
But with City currently seventh in the Premier League, out of the Carabao Cup and also struggling in the Champions League, Guardiola is under increasing pressure just a month after signing a new contract. With that in mind, Mirror Football takes a trip down memory lane to examine four future City stars who ended up taking different routes – and we look at how things played out for both parties in the aftermath.
It was towards the end of Alexis Sánchez's Arsenal career that rumors arose of a possible reunion with Guardiola in Manchester. The pair had worked together for one season at Barcelona (Guardiola's last at the club) and were first touted to link up again in the summer of 2017, and then again in January 2018.
However, Pep confirmed during the winter transfer window that City were not going through as the signing of Sánchez could have led to instability in the dressing room. Sergio Aguero was City's top earner at the time, while Kevin De Bruyne was due a pay rise, and Sánchez would have arrived as the new salary chief on around £250,000 a week.
“I respect that decision and I will move on and look for another solution because the stability of the club is the most important thing,” Guardiola said at the time. “Normally we try to be stable with the players' wages because I think it is good for the team and the stability of the club.”
Sanchez – who is now back at Udinese – moved to Manchester in January 2018 but instead joined rivals United, swapping places with Henrikh Mkhitaryan. However, the high-profile transfer is widely regarded as one of United's worst signings of the 21st century, and the Chilean returned 18 months later, loaned out to Inter Milan before leaving on a free transfer the following year.
City, meanwhile, promoted a local boy by the name of Phil Foden to their first-team squad shortly afterwards. And they also completed the signing of one Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City – a winger who won every trophy available during his time at City.
City, once the Golden Goose when it comes to potential Guardiola signings, have rarely been far from rumors of a possible Lionel Messi reunion over the past eight and a half years. However, speculation reached a fever pitch when it became clear that the World Cup winner would say goodbye to his beloved Barcelona in 2021.
In fact, it was a year earlier that the Argentine reportedly entered into talks with City after handing in a transfer request at Camp Nou. Rumors of a move first emerged when Guardiola first joined in 2016, but it would be years before the rumors seemed to materialise.
Messi and Guardiola reportedly met in the summer of 2020, according to claims made by Marti Perarnau in 'The Pep Revolution'. It is suggested that Sergio Aguero received a text from his international teammate asking about the tactician's contract situation, but despite a chat at Guardiola's home the next day, a transfer never materialized.
After leaving Barcelona, Messi spent two unremarkable seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, where his two Ligue 1 title wins were nothing out of the norm. He later joined Inter Miami in 2023, the same year Guardiola's City achieved the treble – although you could argue that a first Champions League title could have come much sooner if Messi had joined.
Probably the least controversial call on this list in that city seemed to dodge a hugely expensive bullet in Harry Maguire. Rewind to 2019, when fans will remember that the blue and red halves of Manchester were locked in an £80million battle for the Leicester City man, who eventually moved to Old Trafford as United's second most expensive signing of all time.
But it didn't take long for that price tag to come back and hurt the Red Devils, and despite eventually becoming club captain, his on-field performances (and apparently his confidence) have broken down at times. He has shown occasional glimpses of greatness in defense, but few would seriously argue that the player covered his costs – even if Guardiola was a serious fan.
“Yes. Maguire is an excellent, top-class player,” he said after beating Liverpool to lift the 2019 Community Shield. “We were interested, but we couldn't afford it. United could afford it. He is an excellent player, also for the national team, he had an incredible World Cup.”
“He is strong in the air, good with the ball, the build-up, he drives the ball, he is fast, so fast. He has all the qualities. Congratulations to United for this signing.”
City promoted Eric Garcia from the reserves that summer, although it was the 2019 signings of Rodri and Joao Cancelo that really helped their defense. It took another year for Ruben Dias and Nathan Aké to arrive as reinforcements at centre-back, with the former City and FWA player of the year being named in his first season.
The summer of 2021 almost proved to be a blockbuster year if you were a City fan, with Harry Kane alongside Messi being mooted as a potential arrival. The club ultimately signed neither, not that this really hurt their bulging trophy cabinet in the seasons that immediately followed.
But there was a brief period when Kane almost looked likely as the normally reserved Guardiola was willing to comment publicly. And the Spaniard made it his mission to put all the pressure on Spurs as he tried to follow up the £100million signing of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa with another big arrival from England.
“He is a player for Tottenham Hotspur. If Tottenham don't want to negotiate, it's over. If they are open to negotiations, I think not only Manchester City, but many clubs in the world will want to try to sign him. We are not player.” exception – but it depends on Tottenham,” Guardiola said.
“It's different from Jack. Jack had a release clause and he's different. Harry Kane is an exceptional, extraordinary striker – there's no doubt about that, of course we're interested – but he's a Tottenham player and, if they don't want to negotiate, there is nothing left to say. If they want to, we will try.”
City missed out on Kane and opted not to sign a striker that summer, although they did agree to sign Julian Alvarez just six months later (although he remained on loan at River Plate until July 2022). It was also in 2022 that a 22-year-old Erling Haaland arrived for a third of what Kane would have cost – and the rest is history with his goalscoring record since then.
Although Alvarez impressed for City as Haaland's back-up, he was never really happy playing second fiddle to the Norwegian and left for Atletico Madrid this summer. Kane, meanwhile, has destroyed the Bundesliga (and clubs across Europe) since eventually leaving Spurs to join Bayern Munich. Although that allusive first trophy of his professional career still somehow eludes him.
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