Erling Haaland is only ranked ninth in this new list, which includes Pep Guardiola’s best signing for Manchester City.
The best player Pep Guardiola has ever signed for Manchester City isn’t Erling Haaland.
After winning a historic treble the previous season, City’s squad has been hailed as one of the finest ever, making them perhaps the best in world football right now.
Erling Haaland, who scored 52 goals in 53 appearances across all competitions during his rookie campaign at the Etihad Stadium, was a major contributor to that accomplishment. What is the best City signing made by Pep Guardiola? A number of other players who were bought during his tenure also made significant contributions.
A fresh set of rankings that include every player to have joined the team since Guardiola took over as manager in 2001 provide an answer to this query.
It’s not an easy issue to answer, given that players such as David Silva, Sergio Aguero, and Kevin De Bruyne signed before Guardiola arrived.
Sam Lee, a City journalist for The Athletic, has addressed the matter by evaluating all 29 of Guardiola’s City acquisitions.
Rather than choosing players only based on talent, the rankings have also considered the players’ long-term contributions and their value for money.
Nolito, a tough attacker and one of Guardiola’s first—and possibly worst—acquirements, tops the list. In the early months of the season, the Spaniard was promising, but by the conclusion, the supporters had grown tired of his spotty discipline record and meager offensive production.
Some players have performed poorly, including Angelino, Benjamin Mendy, and Kalvin Phillips, the latter of whom has only played 911 minutes of football since moving from Leeds for £42 million in 2022.
The truly surprising part comes in the top 10, where goal-scoring machine Haaland is only ranked eighth. For, in Lee’s words, “players like him come alive in the final third while others help City truly play at their best across the pitch,” which explains why.
German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has the top slot on the rankings, with holding midfielder Rodri coming in third and Bernardo Silva in second.
Guardiola made Gundogan his first City signing for £20 million, which was an incredible deal given what he accomplished in the seven years that followed. The German international not only established dominance in City’s midfield and pace, but he also scored some of the most significant goals in the team’s history, such as the game-winning goal against Aston Villa in 2022 and the incredible 12-second volley against Manchester United in the FA Cup final in 2023.
The following is the complete ranking:
29: Nolito,
28: Benjamin Mendy,
27: Kalvin Phillips,
26: Zack Steffen,
25: Angelino,
24: Sergio Gomez,
23: Scott Carson,
22: Claudio Bravo,
21: Danilo,
20: Ferran Torres,
19: Stefan Ortega,
18: Joao Cancelo,
17: Leroy Sane,
16: Gabriel Jesus,
15: Jack Grealish,
14: Julian Alvarez,
13: Manuel Akanji,
12: Nathan Ake,
11: Oleksandr Zinchenko,
10: Aymeric Laporte,
9: Riyad Mahrez,
8: Erling Haaland,
7: John Stones,
6: Ruben Dias,
5: Kyle Walker,
4: Ederson,
3: Rodri,
2: Bernardo Silva,
1: Ilkay Gundogan
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