Man City’s £125m ceiling: How City smashed their own transfer record 10 times
Mark Strijbosch
Manchester City’s spending is under the microscope like never before, and their complicated case is rocking the Premier League.
You'll have read by now that an independent commission has found City guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, including findings that the club used “sham” commercial arrangements to inflate revenues and concealed the true state of its finances. City have appealed the decision, with the final sanctions still to be determined.
Against that backdrop, the evolution of City’s transfer record makes for fascinating reading.
September 2008: Ground Zero
Since Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group completed its takeover in September 2008, City have broken their own transfer record 10 times, beginning almost immediately with the arrival of Robinho from Real Madrid for £32.5million.
Sergio Aguero raised the bar to £38m in 2011, a move that delivered perhaps the most valuable goal in Premier League history when he struck against QPR to win City’s first title of the modern era.
The spending accelerated from there.
Raheem Sterling arrived from Liverpool for £44m in 2015 before Kevin De Bruyne followed weeks later for £54m. Aymeric Laporte cost £57m in January 2018, Riyad Mahrez pushed the record to £60m that summer and Rodri nudged it higher again at £62.8m in 2019.
Jack Grealish: the first nine-figure deal.
City paid Aston Villa £100m for Jack Grealish in 2021, making the England international the most expensive British footballer at the time.
Yet even that figure has now been left behind.
City smashed their record twice during the 2026 summer window, first completing a £116m deal for Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Elliot Anderson.
Six weeks later, they went bigger again.
Enzo Fernandez joined from Chelsea for £125m, equalling the British transfer record and signing a five-year contract at the Etihad.
From Robinho’s £32.5m statement signing to Fernandez at £125m, City’s record fee has almost quadrupled in 18 years.
