7 Manchester City Players of Last 10 Years Who Never Won over the Fans
The current Manchester City squad is packed with players their fans adore, heroes who will be remembered long after they leave the club.
The likes of Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero have secured their place in the list of club greats. Adored for their attitude, achievements and technical ability, they are players who have ushered in a new period of success at a club that had been starved of it for so long.
However, over the last 10 years, it hasn't always been plain sailing. Some players displayed none of the brilliance or hard work of Aguero and left the club having failed to make a positive impact.
Here we list seven players who never managed to win over the fans at the Etihad Stadium.
1. Emmanuel Adebayor
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Emmanuel Adebayor was seen as a statement of City's intent when he arrived at the club in 2009. The Blues were cash-rich, having been taken over by Sheikh Mansour a year earlier, and the £25 million they shelled out for the Togolese forward was a transfer that sent shock waves throughout the Premier League.
He was seen at the time as one of the finest strikers in English football, and City had taken him from a major rival.
However, despite an early flourish of goals and a memorable celebration in front of Arsenal fans at the Etihad in his fourth game for the club, it proved to be a difficult move for the player. Adebayor soon looked lazy, irresponsible and not actually very good at football, and his performances became increasingly ineffective.
Loan moves to Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur followed as City tried to limit the financial drain of his wages, and he eventually moved to White Hart Lane on a permanent deal in 2012.
He scored 19 goals for City.
2. Roque Santa Cruz
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The amount of money City wasted immediately post-takeover is eye-watering, and perhaps the defining example of their profligacy in the market at the time is the signing of Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn Rovers in 2009.
Then-City manager Mark Hughes wanted him desperately, so much so he told every national newspaper he did. His desperation played into Blackburn's hands, and the price tag for a player with a poor injury record was pushed up. Everyone except Hughes could see £17 million was silly and not a good deal for City.
And it went exactly as the doubters expected. Santa Cruz was rarely fit and scored just four goals for the club. Multiple loan moves followed before he eventually left the club in 2013, joining Primera Division side Malaga.
3. Georgios Samaras
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Like Adebayor, life at City started well for Georgios Samaras. He scored four in his first six games for the club. After his £6 million move, much was expected, and he seemed to be capable of scoring goals.
The early signs proved to be a false dawn. Technically, Samaras was appalling, with a touch that made fans wince. He started to struggle badly, and the more he tried to rectify the situation, the less likely he seemed to score.
His all-round game was lacking badly, and when Sven-Goran Eriksson arrived at the club in 2007, the big Greek striker was allowed to leave.
He was arguably one of the most frustrating players City have ever had.
4. Wayne Bridge
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Another expensive, but ultimately failed, Hughes signing was left-back Wayne Bridge, who joined City from Chelsea in 2009 for £10 million.
Bridge never once got anywhere near his best. He was billed as an attacking full-back before his arrival, but he offered very little going forward and was a liability defensively.
Things got so bad he was phased out of the side and ended up training alone, seemingly happy to collect his £4.7 million-a-year salary for doing very little, refusing to move elsewhere to play first-team football, reported by Daniel Taylor of the Guardian.
A player with that attitude rarely goes down well at City. He became intensely disliked by the fans before finally moving on in 2013.
5. Robbie Fowler
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Robbie Fowler is undoubtedly one of the greatest Premier League strikers of all time. He scored 128 league goals for Liverpool and assumed the nickname God.
He scored all types of goals too: poachers' goals, long-range efforts and deft chips. He had superb technical ability and a knack of being in the right place at the right time. He was excellent at his best.
By the time he got to City, though, he was on the decline, with a hip injury causing him discomfort and restricting his movement. He was at City between 2003 and 2006, scoring just 20 league goals in 80 games.
Despite scoring a quite brilliant goal against Manchester United in 2004, Fowler was never particularly well liked by the City fans. A stoppage-time penalty miss against Middlesbrough in 2005 denied City a place in the UEFA Cup and certainly didn't help his cause.
6. Tal Ben Haim
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In 2008, Hughes signed Tal Ben Haim from Chelsea for a fee of around £5 million. It's doubtful the City fans have ever seen a player perform quite as badly as the Israeli.
He was awful from the word go. He played just nine times in the league for the Blues before being shipped off to Sunderland on loan.
It was another dreadful piece of transfer business by a manager struggling to adapt to his new surroundings at a club intent on winning silverware.
7. Jo
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There's some stiff competition, but perhaps Hughes' worst signing came in the form of Brazilian striker Jo, who joined from CSKA Moscow for around £19 million.
It is perhaps unfair to label him entirely a Hughes signing—City were being influenced too heavily by agents during that period—but the Welshman signed off the deal, telling the club website (via BBC Sport), "He's a big guy, in stature and ability, so I think everybody will enjoy watching him play."
Jo, in fact, had very little ability, and he scored just six goals for the club. Loan moves to Everton (twice) and Galatasaray followed before he left permanently in 2011.
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