The transfer of John Stones from Everton to Manchester City had been ongoing for months before it was finally confirmed on Tuesday morning. Of course, nothing is ever simple when it comes to Pep Guardiola’s new side, and the announcement of the deal was another in a long list of transfer mishaps the club has committed in their 122-year history. Accidentally leaking the news to the media by listing Stones in their Champions League squad before making the move official is something that only City would do.
But this is not the first time things haven’t gone smoothly for the club when bringing in new players. Just last year, the move of Fabian Delph from Aston Villa to City took many twists and turns, as the midfielder told his former club he’d stay, despite already having agreed to a fee and personal terms with City. Six days later, he’d made the move north after a second change of heart.
There was confusion over a similar transfer the season before that, too. Having been released by Chelsea in 2014, it was reported that Frank Lampard had signed for New York City FC — one of Manchester City’s sister clubs in owner Sheikh Mansour’s football group. It was understood that Lampard was joining Manuel Pellegrini’s side on loan, since the MLS newcomers didn’t have any competitive fixtures for six more months.
When it came time for that so-called loan deal to expire around Christmas, there was even more confusion. It was revealed that there had been what the City Football Group described as “mistakes” in how the move had been explained to the press, and that Lampard was due to sign for New York City the following summer. Until then, he’d joined Manchester City on a short-term deal.
Even at the beginning of that campaign, the club faced issues. They’d been courting Porto’s Eliaquim Mangala for some time but had problems with him being co-owned by both the club and a third party. They eventually announced that a deal worth a total of £32 million had been completed and that theyowned all of his registration.
It was later admitted that they’d paid £42m for the centre-back, a somewhat embarrassing sum given the poor quality performances he’d put in for the club up to that point.
Going further back to the winter transfer window of 2008, the club bungled their way through a move for Portsmouth striker Benjani Mwaruwari — who almost wasn’t able to sign for his new club because he missed two flights to Manchester from the south coast after falling asleep.
Portsmouth claimed the deal had gone through before the transfer deadline, while City tried to pull out harbouring concerns about the Zimbabwean’s knee-injury problems. A settlement was made between the two clubs when Pompey called in the Premier League to confirm the transfer had taken place before the deadline.
While Benjani was hardly a raging success, he remains a cult hero for his role in the club’s 2-1 Manchester derby victory five days into his City career — it was the Citizens’ first win at Old Trafford in 34 years, and he’d scored the winner.
In 2006, City made sure that Dietmar Hamann had one of the shortest stays with a Premier League club as they splashed out £400,000 on the German to pry him away from Bolton. It came just 24 hours after he’d moved to the Reebok on a free transfer from Liverpool.
It was later claimed by then-Bolton chairman Phil Gartside that he had “conned” City and that Hamann had never been registered with the Lancashire side. He said in a radio interview that the Wanderers hadn’t countersigned his papers and that they’d sold the veteran without ever owning him. Aninvestigation found that to be untrue and the Premier League confirmed he had indeed been signed by Bolton.
The gaffes just keep happening. Robbie Fowler turned City down in 2003 before signing for them a fortnight later in one of the deals that sparked the resignation of club chairman David Bernstein. He was a lone voice in thinking boss Kevin Keegan was spending too much money.
The deal even forced Keegan to have to apologise after claiming he risked getting his tires and wheels stolen when visiting Fowler’s Liverpool home to convince him to sign.
Down the years, City fans have developed a saying for when the club do something daft: “Typical City.” It sums up the feeling that they do things the hard way and will always be the laughing stock in whatever they do, but it comes with a charm that many are proud of.
It may have been daft for City to inadvertently leak the Stones deal before they’d announced it, but it’s just the sort of thing the club have done for years. Supporters wouldn’t have it any other way.
[Source:- ESPN]
