Nevermind Carlos Tevez: 10 Signings That Manchester City Would Rather Forget

It has been a week of positives for Manchester City as the club cruised to the last-16 of the Europa League and more importantly seemingly resolved the ongoing conflict with star striker Carlos Tevez.

A statement from Tevez said: "I wish to apologise sincerely and unreservedly to everybody I have let down and to whom my actions have caused offence."

The comments helped to finally draw a line under the incident that saw Tevez clash with manager Roberto Mancini after the latter asked him to come on during the club's 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

With Tevez refusing, Manchester City were left with a headache as manager Roberto Mancini refused to allow the player to return after the incident.

But while the resolution may see Manchester City avoid the expense of yet another transfer mistake, recent times have seen the club endure more than its fair share of transfer blunders.

Tevez may have cost the club a substantial sum, but here are 10 other transfers from the Manchester City's recent history that the fans would rather forget.

Felipe Caicedo

In truth, Felipe Caicedo was never truly given a full run in the Manchester City team during his three-year spell with the club.

Signed from Basel by Manchester City in a deal worth £5.2 million (seven million euros) by then manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, hopes were high for the stocky 6'1" forward.

But despite the hype, the Ecuadorian never looked confident in front of goal in the Premier League.

Subsequent loan moves to Sporting Lisbon and Malaga failed to prompt an upturn in form and Caicedo's career looked to be heading for the doldrums.

That was until another loan move to unfashionable Levante saw Caicedo rediscover his form and his value. Frustratingly for Manchester City, the club was already locked in an agreement with Levante which saw the Spanish club purchase the player's rights for just £1 million.

This then allowed Levante to cash in further, with Caicedo promptly purchased by Lokomotiv Moscow in a deal worth £7.5 million.

Roque Santa Cruz

Sam Allardyce will undoubtedly look back on the sale of Roque Santa Cruz to Manchester City as one of the finest bits of business he ever conducted at Blackburn Rovers.

Purchased from Bayern Munich for £3.5 million, the Paraguayan notched up an impressive 23 goals in 57 games for the Lancashire before City came calling.

Knowing full well that he could push the Manchester City coffers to the limit, Allardyce held out for a staggering fee of £17.5 million which was made all the more impressive given Santa Cruz's dubious injury record.

Persistent injuries had already seen Bayern pull the plug on the striker's career in Munich but city boss and former Blackburn chief Mark Hughes was having none of it.

What followed was a stop-start career in the sky blue of Manchester City, as Santa Cruz notched up just three goals in 20 appearances, spending much of his time sidelined with injury.

Subsequent seasons have seen Santa Cruz sent back on loan to Blackburn and this season Real Betis, where his form has improved slightly, even if the price tag round his neck remains a hefty one.

Shay Given

Shay Given's appearances for Manchester City may remain a credit to his record as one of the Premier League's finest goalkeepers, but in truth his transfer to the Blues should never have come to pass.

In January 2009, a disillusioned Given announced his intention to leave a Newcastle United side in disarray. With a stream of potential suitors waiting in line for the star, Given could go where he pleased.

Among those interested in the Irishman's services was Manchester City boss Mark Hughes though, who saw Given as the ideal addition of experience to strengthen the City back line.

A £7 million fee was agreed, which was by no means cheap for the 32-year-old stopper. Given performed well for the remainder of the season, though missed the conclusion of the campaign through injury, which saw Tottenham Hotspur pip Manchester City to a Champions League place.

Crucially during that time, Hughes was sacked, with replacement Roberto Mancini seemingly eager to experiment with young keeper Joe Hart.

With the young Englishman performing well for City, the game was soon up for Given with Hart named No. 1 for the subsequent season.

A £3.5 million move to Aston Villa saw Given return to first-team action, but with Hart already on the books at City, the entire episode could well have been avoided.

João Alves De Assis Silva Aka Jo

Signed for a hefty sum of £18 million after impressing for CSKA Moscow, hopes were high for Brazilian youngster Jo upon his arrival at Eastlands.

The results were underwhelming to say the least though, with Jo scoring just six goals for Manchester City in 41 appearances.

Jo's form was frustrating for any number of reasons, with coaches seemingly perplexed at the star's inability to adjust despite previously playing in sub-zero Russian temperatures.

The Jo conundrum was made all the more frustrating after a loan spell with Premier League club Everton saw the star score five goals in just twelve games.

Discipline remained a problem for the star though, with Jo displaying a track record for going AWOL back to Brazil in search of a remedy to his serious bouts of homesickness.

In 2011, he was finally granted his wish with a transfer back to Internacional, with the £18 million fee rarely mentioned again.

Emmanuel Adebayor

The arrival of Emmanuel Adebayor for a fee of £25 million in the summer of 2009 was greeted by many Manchester City fans as the final piece in the club's title challenge jigsaw.

Fans were even more jubilant after Adebayor played a staring role in a 3-1 demolition of Arsenal later in that season.

However, the game would come to sum up everything negative associated with the Togo striker, who was later banned after charging towards the Arsenal fans that once adored him to gloat after scoring.

Accusations of a stamp on Van Persie saw Adebayor receive a three-match ban for violent conduct and with that suspension much of the early momentum surrounding his form went with it.

As more star names arrived at Manchester City, rather than stand up to the additional competition for team places, Adebayor looked for a way out.

He subsequently found it through loan spells with Real Madrid and now Tottenham Hotspur. Fortunately for City fans though, as part of the loan agreement the player was ineligible for games against his former employers...

Robinho

The first major signing of the Etihad era, Robinho's £32 million price tag brought high expectations from fans and pundits alike.

A debut goal against Chelsea that came as part of a memorable debut campaign in the Premier League went some way to reassuring fans of his worth.

But despite this, the cracks in the Robinho facade remained present.

After all, the Brazilian had been all set to move to Chelsea, with officials from Real Madrid and Chelsea both quoted as expressing their confidence over the move. 

That all changed the minute Manchester City came in with a £32 million offer that included wages of £160,000 a week.

It was all too good to be true and for a few months, City fans fell in love with the little Brazilian.

But as time went on and the weather became autumnal, Robinho sought moves away. An initial loan move back to Santos was initially seen as a temporary one.

However, when the deal concluded and Robinho still remained intent on leaving City, officials opted to cash in their chips with the 28-year-old sold to AC Milan for a fee of £15 million.

Jerome Boateng

It would be difficult to describe Jerome Boateng's time at Manchester City as a failure. Instead, the German defender was merely an unfortunate victim of luck and circumstance.

Signed for £10.4 million in June 2010 at a time when he was widely regarded as one of the brightest talents to come out of the ever impressive German national youth set-up.

His time at City would be over before it even began, though, as Boateng suffered a freak injury setback whilst on international duty with Germany.

Tearing a tendon in his left knee, Boateng's injury was aggravated further after the player collided with a drinks trolley during the plane home from the game.

Sidelined for much of the season, Boateng watched on as Micah Richards established himself in the city squad, with Pablo Zabaleta providing adequate cover for the English star.

When Bayern then came calling a year later, Boateng took up the option and returned to Germany.

Wayne Bridge

It seems crazy to look back now and realise that Manchester City paid £10 million for the services of Wayne Bridge back in January 2009.

But back then Bridge was a different prospect. An England international with Chelsea pedigree, he was seen as the ideal addition to the City squad.

Widely criticised for his poor displays at City, despite playing 42 games for the club, his most memorable moment in the club's colours came when he refused to shake John Terry's hand before a game against Chelsea in the league.

Sidelined from first team action after the arrival of Roberto Mancini, Bridge was seemingly happy to watch on collecting substantial wages for his time.

A loan move to West Ham proved disastrous and highlighted just how far Bridge's star had fallen. Martin O'Neill's arrival at Sunderland has brought with it another loan deal for the former England star. 

Whether he can make City regret allowing him to leave remains to be seen though.

Valeri Bojinov

When Valeri Bojinov set the Serie A record as the youngest foreign player to ever appear in the Italian top flight, pundits and managers alike saw the Bulgarian as a player of huge potential for the future.

Subsequent moves to Fiorentina and Juventus saw that promise blossom further, as Bojinov continued to find his feet in the football world.

Sven Goran Eriksson undoubtedly shared in these hopes of the player too, bringing him to the City of Manchester for a fee of £5.75 million.

But setback after setback saw Bojinov's star slide, despite the brave efforts of the player himself.

It began in August 2007 as Bojinov suffered a knee ligament injury saw him sidelined for five months.

Though gradually returning to action, the Bulgarian was to suffer further heartache almost exactly a year later as he warmed up for a Premier League game in August 2008.

Falling during the warm-up, Bojinov suffered a serious achilles injury that ruled him out for a further six months.

Despite making another recovery, Bojinov never looked likely to return to the city team, with the striker sent to Parma where he gradually rebuilt his career.

In three years at City, the Bulgarian scored one goal in 11 appearances.

Rolando Bianchi

Among the many follies of the Sven Goran Eriksson era, the untested Italian came to the Premier League amid much hype—mostly from the City boss himself.

Prior to signing for City, Bianchi had enjoyed a decent spell with Reggina in Serie A where he scored 19 goals in 46 appearances. The tally was enough to convince the City board, with the club paying an impressive £8.8 million for his services.

Initial signs looked good for a similar return at City as the Italian scored four goals. But despite the positive start, Bianchi continued to dream of a move back to Serie A.

He soon made his feelings clear with Eriksson promptly obliging the striker with a January move that left City short on attacking options.

Arriving at Lazio, though, saw Bianchi fail to find the form that had served him so well previously. Despite his protests, the Italian was then forced to return to Italy.

But with his feelings clear and City keen to close the book on the transfer, he was allowed to join lowly league side Torino where he remains to this day.