Why Citys First XI are never poached

[Paolo Di Canio]

Wanted to discuss something i mentioned in the treble thread,

Why is it Citys first 11 are never courted by the likes of Real, Barca, PSG or Bayern?

It seems ever since the takeover in 2008 none of the top clubs in europe have ever declared interest in any of Citys main players

Kompany, Silva, Aguero, De Bruyne, Rodri, Ederson, Foden etc all have never come as potential signings for these clubs

You have Madrid declaring interest in Mbappe, Ronaldo, Barca chasing Lewandowski, but never have these clubs successfully declared interest in a City first team player

Honourable mentions not included

Cancelo was a bench player before being released on loan, same can be said for Sane when Sterling went to a left winger, Dzeko was also a sub

Bernardo Silva is the only one i can think of after 15 years

Jesus, Zinchenko, Sterling all on the unwanted list

Is it shadow wages from an abu dhabi company? Agents paid brown envelopes to not let their players leave? How is it none of these guys ever want to play elsewhere?

This is also pre Guardiola, under Mancini and Pellegrini also, they never lost a first team player to a big club, and they never even declared interest

 

[SalfordRed18]

Sane? Toure?

 

[horsechoker]

I'd love to see them boiled

 

[arnie_ni]

Sane? Toure?

Toure? He was there for about 10 years then went to like China didn't he?

Sane was loaned out and unwanted by pep

 

[The Corinthian]

Barcelona bought Ferran Torres after 18 months at City for £45m or something.

 

[horsechoker]

Barcelona bought Ferran Torres after 18 months at City for £45m or something.

Mates rates, half of City used to work for Barca

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

Are you seriously asking this question? I think we all know the answer, and that is ££££££!! A shit ton of it.

 

[AndySmith1990]

Manchester City have been charged with breaking financial fair play rules around 100 times over a nine-year period...

 

[top1whoisman]

Because they pay them more than anyone. Sure 50% of that is off the books but the players don’t care.

 

[Strootman's Finger]

They don't tend to have superstar players, don't get me wrong, they have lots of worldclass players, but a lot of low key players that don't tend to attract headlines or major fanfare, they just get down to work and exceed. Haaland is one of their first truly superstar players, like a lot of kids are going to grow up wearing Haaland shirts and becoming city fans. Prior to Haaland I would think Aguero and Silva fell into this category, but probably not even to the same level.

And I think because they are class players, most of them anyway, playing in a finely tuned system, they play well as a whole, but no one stands out as a particular star, until you get a guy banging in 50 goals in a season with a superstar persona as well, who will probably have Real and PSG chasing him in a couple seasons.

 

[horsechoker]

They don't tend to have superstar players, don't get me wrong, they have lots of worldclass players, but a lot of low key players that don't tend to attract headlines or major fanfare, they just get down to work and exceed. Haaland is one of their first truly superstar players, like a lot of kids are going to grow up wearing Haaland shirts and becoming city fans. Prior to Haaland I would think Aguero and Silva fell into this category, but probably not even to the same level.

And I think because they are class players, most of them anyway, playing in a finely tuned system, they play well as a whole, but no one stands out as a particular star, until you get a guy banging in 50 goals in a season with a superstar persona as well, who will probably have Real and PSG chasing him in a couple seasons.

I'd add that de Bruyne probably has iron-clad contract. I imagine Real, Barca and Bayern must have been interested at some point.

The problem is the gap between top team is even bigger now than it was. If you're too big for City, you only have a few places to go because City probably won't sell a top top player to an English rival.

 

[giorno]

They keep their players happy and have the financial muscle to refuse any offer for players they don't want to sell

Silva and Aguero were pursued at various points by the spanish giant but they weren't willing to push for the move, and City refused to even start negotiations. Kompany, the big clubs generally had better players already. Yaya likewise never generated particular interest. Under Guardiola, well, they have Guardiola, and players generally want to play for him. They did lose Sane though, and might have lost Bernardo Silva if De Jong didn't refuse to leave. They might lose Gundogan in the summer as well

I'm sure big clubs sending feelers to De Bruyne has been an annual tradition for the past 5-6 years at least, evidently the answer that came back was that he was happy where he was

 

[Baneofthegame]

I'm sure a lot of them were handsomely rewarded for their loyalty under the table.

 

[r3idy]

I guess you can argue it the other way as well. Very rarely do the likes of Bayern, Real, Barca, PSG, Liverpool let players go at the peak of their powers. So not entirely unexpected. That said, it would suggest there is a pretty sizeable gap on reported salary for A list performer at City compared to what they are really getting.

 

[top1whoisman]

I guess you can argue it the other way as well. Very rarely do the likes of Bayern, Real, Barca, PSG, Liverpool let players go at the peak of their powers. So not entirely unexpected.

At least Sterling, Coutinho, Mascherano, Owen & Suárez disagree. Torres & Alonso to a degree too.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Haaland will be an interesting test of this. If in 2 years time Marca aren’t dribbling over him and sensationalising that he wears Real Madrid pyjamas, we can safely assume the right people have been threatened with decapitation if they go near a city asset

 

[BarcaSpurs]

Barca have tried to take Bernardo Silva, are currently trying to take Gundogan, and took Eric Garcia (unluckily for them).

 

[BarcaSpurs]

Barca got a 35 year old Lewandowski from Bayern but apart from that their big signings have been from Dortmund (Dembele), Ajax (Frenkie), Leeds (Raphinha), Sevilla (Kounde) etc.

Why didn't Real Madrid take Kompany, Silva, Aguero etc? well because they had Ramos, Varane, Modric, Benzema etc. They just haven't needed City's key players over the years.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

It is weird alright. Especially the way they seem to find buyers incredibly easy when they decide they want to move a player on. So it’s not as though their players aren’t sought after. Weird and annoying because never losing your best players but being able to sell every player you don’t want quickly and for good money makes it so much easier to build a good squad.

 

[GatoLoco]

At least Sterling, Coutinho & Suárez disagree.

Sterling, Coutinho, Suárez and Xabi Alonso and Torres before that just in Liverpool's case.

Neymar in Barcelona's case.

Di Maria, Casemiro, Ozil, Morata, Hakimi, Odegaard in Real Madrid's case.

Thiago Alcantara and Lewandowski that I can think of in Bayern's case.

 

[adexkola]

I guess you can argue it the other way as well. Very rarely do the likes of Bayern, Real, Barca, PSG, Liverpool let players go at the peak of their powers. So not entirely unexpected. That said, it would suggest there is a pretty sizeable gap on reported salary for A list performer at City compared to what they are really getting.

Bayern and Real and Barcelona aren't supposed to let players go because they're traditional big clubs. Or something

 

[Von Mistelroum]

Because they earn an absolute tonne of money with the 'extra payments' from City. Who can match that?

 

[top1whoisman]

Sterling, Coutinho, Suárez and Xabi Alonso and Torres before that just in Liverpool's case.

Neymar in Barcelona's case.

Di Maria, Casemiro, Ozil, Morata, Hakimi, Odegaard in Real Madrid's case.

Thiago Alcantara and Lewandowski that I can think of in Bayern's case.

In Real's case it was not like those players were poached by someone, more like they had decided to let them go. In Casemiro's case we can't say "at the peak of his powers".

Thiago maybe, Lewandowski had definitely peaked when he moved.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Because they pay them more than anyone. Sure 50% of that is off the books but the players don’t care.

This

 

[r3idy]

At least Sterling, Coutinho, Mascherano, Owen & Suárez disagree. Torres & Alonso to a degree too.

That's a very tenuous list at best. Let me put it another way, the big clubs really know when to sell a dud. Sterling has not ripped up any tree's since moving to Chelsea. Liverpool were laughing all the way to the bank with the sale of Coutinho and Torres. I would argue there is that pull for the Latino players at their peak to move to Barca / Real e.g. Mascherano, Ronaldo etc.

 

[top1whoisman]

That's a very tenuous list at best. Let me put it another way, the big clubs really know when to sell a dud. Sterling has not ripped up any tree's since moving to Chelsea. Liverpool were laughing all the way to the bank with the sale of Coutinho and Torres. I would argue there is that pull for the Latino players at their peak to move to Barca / Real e.g. Mascherano, Ronaldo etc.

It's almost like Sterling never played for City.

 

[Rajiztar]

Their first 11 well paid. Always have chance to win trophies. Recent seasons they often go far in cl. No reason for players to look else where.

 

[r3idy]

It's almost like Sterling never played for City.

So is the basis of your argument based on Sterling having his peak at City ? Same Sterling who choked in quite a few big games ? Respect a difference of opinion but some of the players you reference were either on the decline or went onto a fast decline after leaving their respective clubs.

 

[2 man midfield]

They’re paid well above what they’re being given over the table. I think I heard that the likes of Aguero and Silva are still being paid somehow.

 

[theballisround]

The only way up is Real Madrid, other than that, all teams pay worse and play worse, so why should they move?

 

[bosnian_red]

Because they're consistently challenging for all trophies managed by the best manager around and at a time where the Premier League is the elite league in the world.

United didn't have players lured away while Sir Alex was here. It was just Ronaldo, because Ronaldo had won everything here and always saw Madrid as the pinnacle, which is common for players in that part of the world especially.

Barca have been a mess for years, so financially couldn't afford most of these guys. But besides that, why go for Aguero when they had Suarez and Madrid had Benzema? Why go for de Bruyne or David Silva when Madrid have Modrić and Kroos and Barca had Iniesta?

It's a situational thing. There was no need for those clubs to go for the star players. Often times, City don't necessarily have the biggest stars either. They have a lot of quality players, but aside from De Bruyne and now Haaland, none of them were best in the world in their position guys. Quality players, but not players who are irreplaceable and signed at the right ages where it's too difficult to lure them away once they sign their contract.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

The players weren't good enough relative to their inflated salaries to be worth the hassle that poaching a starter from a top club's XI entails. Maybe some are now.

 

[top1whoisman]

So is the basis of your argument based on Sterling having his peak at City ? Same Sterling who choked in quite a few big games ? Respect a difference of opinion but some of the players you reference were either on the decline or went onto a fast decline after leaving their respective clubs.

Yeah I'd say Sterling was more or less at his peak when City got him.

In hindsight you can say Torres had seen his peak already, sure. Coutinho was at his peak when he left, same for Mascherano and Owen. Suárez was one of the best strikers in the world when he left Liverpool. In my opinion Alonso wasn't in decline although, in hindsight, we could say that he never reached the Liverpool levels in Madrid.

 

[Zen]

Isn't this a Pep XI thing? Ultra system players...

 

[r3idy]

Yeah I'd say Sterling was more or less at his peak when City got him.

In hindsight you can say Torres had seen his peak already, sure. Coutinho was at his peak when he left, same for Mascherano and Owen. Suárez was one of the best strikers in the world when he left Liverpool. In my opinion Alonso wasn't in decline although, in hindsight, we could say that he never reached the Liverpool levels in Madrid.

That's the mark of a good team, more importantly a good manager knowing when to recycle the team BEFORE it peaks.

 

[top1whoisman]

That's the mark of a good team, more importantly a good manager knowing when to recycle the team BEFORE it peaks.

No disagreements there. I'd still say that if they had the chance they'd have loved to keep most of those players. They couldn't compete with the bigger clubs financially and their players wanted to go win more than they did at Liverpool.

 

[Dumbstar]

The likes of bench players (Grealish, Mahrez, even Bernardo) are probably being paid around 500k a week each on+off the books. More off than on obviously. Why do you think we never hear a peep about them wanting a move? And no, it's not just because of Pep.

Aguero and David Silva in their non CL winning decade each. Not a peep. No one could afford their (actual) salaries. It's not even that big a secret either. No one gives a shit. That's where football is.

 

[Moriarty]

I'd love to see them boiled

 

[PSV]

Why didn't Real Madrid take Kompany, Silva, Aguero etc? well because they had Ramos, Varane, Modric, Benzema etc. They just haven't needed City's key players over the years.

Well, I mean, all three of them were sick-notes.

 

[MackRobinson]

They cheat