Manchester City’s Squad Value: Then & Now

For no reason whatsoever, I have taken a speculative look at the Manchester City squad value as it stands now, compared to what it originally cost. Not surprisingly, the squad didn’t cost a billion pounds after all. Market values are also predicted on the assumption that the player is under contract and thus not available on the cheap.
I have added afterwards the market value as predicted by the excellent transfermrket.co.uk in italics. Many of the transfer costs are taken from their statistics, and raised my eyebrows a few times.

Joe Hart – £792,000 from Shrewsbury. The subject of a million debates, the player seen as both world-class and a liability is clearly worth a lot, lot more than what City purchased him for. Still clearly England’s number 1, he put a shaky period behind him, and conceded just the 4 goals in England’s 10 qualifying games, before the boob against Chelsea ruined everything. He should however have over a decade left in the professional game. On the presumption that he would be sold domestically and taking the English player premium into account, but then realising that goalkeepers do not fetch as much as outfield players, I would value him at around £20m.
(I’m guessing many will disagree)
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £21m

Costel Pantilimon & Richard Wright –cost little (£0 and £2m), worth little. As you were.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £2.2m & £225,000

Micah Richards – £0. An academy player, so cost City nothing in transfer fees. Once linked with a £25m move across the City, then his star waned, now it is flickering once more. The unfortunate factor is that he could injure himself cleaning his teeth, and this must affect his value, and it seems to affect his form, as he is hardly setting the world alight again. But he is English. So I reckon – £11m.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £14m

Pablo Zabaleta – £7.6m. The person every man wants to be, which must be good for his transfer value. Consummate professional, workhorse, passionate, committed. Not lacking in skill though not top of the tree in that respect. Not firing on all cylinders so far this season, but I doubt that would affect his value much. I would guess at – £20m.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £16m

Vincent Kompany – £7.48m. a value that can be measured on and off the field, but he can now also be considered to be officially injury prone and also attracts ridiculous red cards like the Manchester United Megastore attracts glory-hunters. Defenders rarely fetch top-whack prices, and Barcelona were laughably linked with a £20m bid in the summer, but his absence is felt stronger than any other City player, so I will plump for – £28m.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £31m

Martin Demichelis – £4m. As he was been injured since his arrival until recently then presumably his value remains the same. It seemed a fair price – an experienced performer approaching the twilight of his career. A few games later and he has performed ok, so nothing has really changed. £4m.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £2.6m

Matija Nastastic –£13.37m. A transfer that was somewhat of a rarity, as it involved a partial-swop deal with Savic. A revelation last season, a bit more suspect in the early weeks of this, his value has probably not fluctuated too much. He is still an excellent prospect who has shown great maturity but who has understandably still got plenty to learn and misses his captain next to him. I would speculate that his value at the moment is about the same as when he arrived. You’d hate to see him go though, as there’s a whole lot of potential there. And let’s not forget – he is a mere 20 years old. Value? About £20m
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £18.5m

Joleon Lescott – £24m. No doubt that his current market value is much lower now. Age has taken its toll, and City always overpaid THE CHOSEN ONE anyway, but he certainly paid his way in the end and has been a consummate professional. Would probably fetch about £5m right now, if anyone would pay his wages.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £7.9m

Gael Clichy – £7m. A solid performer throughout his stay at City, if slightly frustrating. £7m seemed a steal at the time for an experienced premier league performer, and he is probably worth more than that to this day. My nagging suspicion is that City may strengthen the left-back position in the future as he doesn’t really excel enough, and is showing a few signs of regressing slightly, which is shown in my valuation – £12m.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £14m

Aleksander Kolarov – £19.97m. Where to start with Kolarov? One moment he’s scoring a wonderful free-kick and putting in 5 magnificent whipped crosses, the following week he’s a liability who we’d do well to give away. He seemed destined to leave after the acrimonious end to last season, but now he is threatening to usurp Clichy in the first team. God knows what his value is – so I can only speculate, after much thought, at – £12m
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £21m

Dedryck Boyata – £0. Cost nothing but has never really looked like breaking into the first team for more than the odd match or two, often in the cup competitions. Not sure what we could get for him – would suggest around £5m
Transfermrket.co.uk value – not listed in squad.

David Silva – £25.3m. Or Merlin as he is also known (hmmm). There’s nothing more I can say about City’s magnificent Spaniard, except to point out that he seems to be back to his best. A first team pick for the world champions, it’s fair to say he has a high market value. Hugely missed as soon as he got injured. I’ll go for – £35m
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £35m

Fernandinho – £30m? Like Carlos Tevez before him, people are still arguing over what he actually cost. Various journalists are insistent it is the substantial figure quoted above, so who am I to argue, considering their impeccable track-record? The fact is that his role in the team is an unglamorous one, and five years of world-class performances would probably not raise his value a cent. His current market value is probably what he should have been purchased for, perhaps slightly more as he continues to improve with every match, so I will take a vague guess at – £23m.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £28m

Samir Nasri. £24m. Hmm, tough one this. He seems to have got his mojo back this season under Pellegrini, and is getting more match-time as a result. There’s no doubt he is a supremely talented footballer, the only question is over application and mentality. He also gets plenty of playing time in the French national squad – I would argue his value is around £25m, a fair rise on his value at the start of the season.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £16.5m

Jack Rodwell – £12m. Tough one to call this. There is clearly a £20m footballer in Jack Rodwell. But as we all know, he is more injury-prone than Wile E. Coyote. For that reason alone I reckon he would only fetch at the moment, at the most – £10m
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £13m

Yaya Toure – £26.4m. The “Barcelona reserve”, as Brian Reade memorably described him, is now one of the most revered midfielders in the world. As for his worth should we bizarrely decide to sell him – I would want £35m, perhaps more.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £26.5m

James Milner – £24m. The much maligned Milner is an important part of City’s stellar squad, but there can be no doubting that his value is much lower than what he was purchased for. Part of a £16m + Stephen Ireland deal (so £16m then – ha! I’m so funny!), he was another player bought for over his market value as the selling club wrung every last penny out of cash-rich City. I would rate his current market value at – £14m.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £16m

Javi Garcia. £17.7m. Oh dear. Garcia sometimes gets called up to the Spain squad. Garcia played for a successful Benfica side for many years. Yet Garcia seems to have few redeeming features in a City shirt. Perhaps he is just not suited to the English game, as he didn’t get this far in the game without many redeeming features. What would he fetch now? A continental side may well spend £12m
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £16.5m

Jesus Navas – £17.6m. I’ll be honest, he has slightly disappointed me since his arrival. Started on fire, but has cooled off somewhat in recent weeks. His value has probably not changed then. £14m
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £17.5m

Stevan Jovetic – £22.8m. Struggled to gain full fitness since his arrival, so apart from a starring role in the Capital One Cup game against Wigan, we’ve seen little of him, and thus his value remains where it was – £23m
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £23m

Alvaro Negredo – £22m. The beast. Eased into the first team, he has quickly established himself as one of the first names on the team-sheet, and forged a great partnership with Aguero. It’s probably too early to say he is worth more, but his value has surely risen at least slightly since signing, and he is getting some playing time in the Spain team too. £25m.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £22m

Edin Dzeko – £32.56m (apparently!). The man who splits City fans right down the middle as much as any other player. Either way, I can’t us seeing us recouping our money should the time inevitably come when he moves on to pastures new, probably to Borussia Dortmund (or even Arsenal). But, but, but. He may frustrate, but he still keeps up a healthy scoring record, scores important goals, responds when he seems at his lowest, and also is a successful international on his way to the World Cup Finals. We’d probably get around £18m. Dortmund are rumoured to be offering £15m, but City want more.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £24m

John Guidetti – £0. Another academy prospect, so no initial cost, and very hard to value due to long-standing injury concerns. Currently on the verge of another comeback, and prolific when he stayed fit for a year in Holland, many City fans want to see him get first team action despite having never seen him play. Would guess wildly that he could fetch around £10m.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £5.3m

Sergio Aguero – £39.6m. It is saying something about Aguero’s time at City that he could have cost so much yet has almost certainly risen in value since. He hasn’t been perfect (who is?), and was badly hampered by injuries last season and thus less effective, but recent weeks have reminded us all what he is capable of. At the time of writing, he is the top goal-scorer AND the top assister in the Premier League.
With another spurious transfer rumour last week about Barcelona (and Bayern Munich) preparing a £40m bid, I reckon that if City ever had to sell him they should not accept a penny under £50m. And for the record, I wouldn’t sell Bayern Munich a virus. Our Spanish executives probably wouldn’t sell Barcelona one either.
Transfermrket.co.uk value – £35m

There are many other players swishing around of course. Youngsters on the brink, on loan and those in limbo that all have some value or other. But at least those in the first squad have not been the drain on resources that their predecessors were. The current purchasing policies seem to have produced players that have a sell-on value, whilst lowering the wage bill on those that went before.

Cost of squad to purchase – £380.17m

My current squad value – £433.00m

Transfermrket.co.uk value – £420m (approx)