Have City bought any real bargains?

[@BluePhil8]

Hart, Kompany, Zabaleta, Clichy all cost peanuts.

Aguero, Silva and Yaya were bargains at £36m, £24m and £24m each.

Bernardo and Ederson were super cheap compared to what came immediately after in the transfer market.

 

[The Colonel]

Unlike the rags and scousers we no longer sell on our best players to the Spanish giants. Back in the day Paul Stewart springs to mind and sold on for a big profit.

 

[Airbags Optional]

Trautmann was a bargain

 

[kaz7]

We don't buy players to profit on them, that's why. Clubs in the lower half of the table or clubs who have owners driven by taking money out of the business. Joventic had a nightmare with injuries and Nasri paid back his transfer fee with 2 leagues and other trophies - we bought him at 24 and he left at 30, hardly designed to make profit...

This,our model is not to sell players when they are at their most valuable ,it is about longevity,having their best years then letting them go,i love we do it this way

 

[kaz7]

How do you expect Madrid to make a profit when they’d already paid record money for him? The truth is that all players have their price and we don’t make money on first team players and neither are youth really given a chance. Look at Sancho.

We don't sell our best players,what is difficult about that?

 

[kinky's boots]

How about David Pizarro? He brought a little bit of class and control when the team had been losing their heads. I think it gave us the edge in turning the tide that season

 

[ninjamonkey]

From the last decade pretty much every player that’s been a success can be considered a bargain to varying degrees even ones that were thought to be overpriced at the time such as say Lescott at £24 million proved to be a bargain but I think the OP is asking for examples of players who were brought in under their market value.

I think Negredo falls into that category, £16 million was nothing, sold for a near £10 million profit a year later. I’d put forward Demichelis too. £4 million for a proven quality defender with bags of experience, yes his legs had gone which was easily exploited at times but he was vital in helping us win our second title.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

Since the takeover, I'd say Gareth Barry, Gabby Jesus, Bernardo Silva (relative to his talent) and then we've had players that have come in and done a job for little money like Delph, Sagna, Demichelis, Willy and Zinchenko. The likes of Yaya and Silva have obviously seemed like bargains long term, but they were relatively expensive at the time, so I'd say they were what you'd expect to pay for players of that quality.

 

[Big Swifty]

I think this thread is exhausted now.

As the originator, I am going to make my decision. The top spot goes to a man plucked from lower leagues and non-league, a great captain who led us to glory, has served the club in several capacities for decades, a thoroughly decent man, and is City through and through......
Tony Book. He ticks all the boxes.
Bert Trautmann from St Helens Town is up there with him.

End of.

 

[shemnel]

of course it's mandatory that Kompany and Zabaleta are mentioned (utter bargains), but looking back to the 90s, a decade of much dross;

Andy Morrison - a key player for that division, you need a shithouse nutcase to take that league by the balls. ~£80k
Shaun Goater - bought as City were doomed for the 3rd tier, forged in the fires of Division 2, 80 or 90 goals for City. ~£360k
Weaver - bit of a legend and a snip at ~£200k

at the beginning of the 2000s, i thought Distin gave us 5 very good season for £5m