Manchester City have been known to get involved in some big transfer deals since their Abu Dhabi takeover back in 2008.
For instance, recent years have seen City splash the cash to bring players such as Jack Grealish, Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and Rodri to the Etihad Stadium for significant transfer sees.
This hefty financial backing has allowed City to become a dominant force in England by winning eight Premier League titles since 2012 and various other domestic and European trophies.
Now, however, over 16 years into Sheikh Mansour’s tenure owning the Manchester club, a former employee has shared some behind-the-scenes details on how close City came to landing what would have been a headline-grabbing transfer in the early years of their Abu Dhabi ownership.
(L-R) Daniele De Rossi, Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini of Italy sing the national anthem before the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group ...
Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Man City had ‘shook hands’ to sign Gianluigi Buffon in 2010
Appearing in a recent video shared on the Business of Sport YouTube channel, Mark Bowen, who was Mark Hughes’ assistant manager at City, recalled how close the Manchester club were to signing Gianluigi Buffon in 2010.
He said: “Joe Hart was there and Kasper Schmeichel, but they were young. So Mark had looked early and said, right, we ended up getting Shay Given, but he’d looked and said, look, they’re going to be good ‘keepers, but they’re a bit young at the moment.
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“So we actually flew by private jet to Turin to speak to Buffon, Gary Cook, Mark and myself. Plane lands, get off, go into the business lounge in Turin Airport. Buffon comes in with his agent. We sat down.
“They offered him, Gary offered him, and this is 2010, I think it was around about £400k-a-week, right, because he was going to be the leader for the club, the big name to kick everything on. And we shook hands on everything.
“Literally, an hour later, jumped back on the plane from Turin the flight flew back, got off the plane. As we get into the terminal, Gary Cook looked at his phone and he’s gone oh no.
“What’s up, Gary? He said, the player has turned around and said, ‘no, he thought about it. Sorry. I can’t, I can’t move. This is my club, my boyhood club. I’m staying here.’
“And we’re thinking, right, so we’ve just flown six hours. Three there, three back. We’ve offered him £400,000. He shook hands on the deal. Tell me we’re off the plane. He’s gone, [I’m] not coming. And Mark’s looking at me going, this is madness. This is madness what’s going on here.”
Buffon would have been a star signing for City
Given Buffon’s status as one of the best goalkeepers of all time, the Italian would undeniably have been a star signing for City in 2010 had he not gone back on his handshake and decided to stay with Juventus.
Gianluigi Buffon Appearances Clean Sheets Goals Conceded Trophies Won
Juventus 685 322 539 23
However, the potential arrival of Buffon at that time could have had an impact on Hart’s emergence at the Manchester club before he went on to become a key figure for City in their early Premier League title victories.
Specifically, across the 2011/12 Premier League campaign, Hart played every minute of action possible, keeping 17 clean sheets along the way.
So from his point of view, the Englishman may have been glad that Buffon didn’t end up making a move to Manchester when the club went after him.