Declan Rice was promptly disregarded by Manchester City, just as they have done numerous times in the past.
Declan Rice is the captain of West Ham United, and it appears that he will be moving to Arsenal this summer after Manchester City withdrew from the fight to get him.
It is common knowledge that Man City is a wealthy club, yet the club has stated that they will not pay more than £100 million for Rice. It is not the first time that Pep Guardiola’s side has backed out of a deal at a time when they perceive the player’s value to be overinflated. Mirror Football investigated the subsequent careers of eight other players who came close to signing with Manchester City and found that the majority of them struggled.
Cristiano Ronaldo
CR7 sparked excitement when he returned to Manchester United, and Old Trafford followers chose to ignore the fɑct that he nearly joined Man City that summer. In the end, it was a forgettable comeback, he left many bad images during his return to MU and went to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr.
Marc Cucurella
City is one of two Premier League teams who have been linked with the Brighton left back, but they are the first to be mentioned. The value of the Spaniard is at an all-time high as City and Chelsea compete for his signing, but the Blues were the ones to win the bidding with an offer of £56 million.
After Cucurella’s disastrous first season at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea may be kicking themselves for not beating City to his signature earlier.
Harry Maguire
Maguire’s time at United was rife with flaws, it’s easy to forget that City were even interested in him. Pep Guardiola even openly confessed that City were interested but “cannot afford” to buy him. The Reds won thanks to a record proposal. Four years later, Maguire was closed as a failed contract.
Paul Pogba
Pogba’s talent is undeniable – even Man City thinks so. The Etihad team wanted him before he returned to Old Trafford in 2016. He had an unimpressive six-year stint at Old Trafford. Costing the Red Devils £90m, Pogba finally returned to Juventus for free last year.
Romelu Lukaku
City’s intention to sign Lukaku is not well known, but it is the Belgian who has shed some light on their efforts. He said: “I turned down the offer from Manchester City. It was not the right time, I wanted to do something good for Inter because they saved my career. I am in a deep in the hole at Manchester United, things don’t go well. I’m a big investment for Inter and we’ve done great things together.”
He then chose to join Chelsea and spent another unforgettable time in England.
Timo Werner
Another striker turned down the opportunity to play for Man City, choosing instead Stamford Bridge, Guardiola even phoned Werner to convince him to leave Leipzig for the Etihad. The Germany international can look back on that decision with great regret, as Werner was frequently the subject of ridicule during his time at Chelsea. Similar to Lukaku, Werner eventually returned to the club he left.
Kalidou Koulibaly
Napoli’s £72m price tag has frustrated Guardiola. Instead, the Senegal international also joined Chelsea after having reduced its value to half. But the midfielder’s stint in England lasted only one season before joining Arab club Al Hilal.
Alexis Sanchez
City’s Amazon documentary “All or Nothing” showed they were interested in luring Sanchez away from Arsenal in the summer of 2017. However, Sanchez ended up at Old Trafford just four months later. Five goals in a season and a half caused Sanchez to leave soon.