"No man is worth €50 million!" - Former Manchester City star claims the Premier League champions overpaid to sign him
Former Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala has suggested that the Cityzens overpaid to secure his signature back in 2014. The 33-year-old made the startling revelation while speaking to French outlet Le10 Sport this week.
Recall that Manchester City brought Eliaquim Mangala to the Premier League after they splashed €50 million to sign him from FC Porto in August 2014. That figure made the Frenchman the most expensive defender in football history at the time.
A decade later, the 33-year-old has come out to comment on that transfer fee. According to him, he wasn't worth that much money, which suggests that the Cityzens overpaid to lure him to the Etihad Stadium.
“When I was told at the time that it was over €50m and €50m was a lot of money… But no man is worth €50m!" he told Le10 Sport [via The Sun].
“When you’re part of an industry, a business, you inevitably enter into a logic that goes beyond normal life, but nobody is worth this or that price. It doesn’t make sense. But it was a real experience to go through that. I really enjoyed it. I said, you’ll see in one or two years, this record will be broken and it was.”
Eliaquim Mangala went on to spend five years with Manchester City, which included short loan spells with clubs like Valencia and Everton. During his time at the Etihad Stadium, the Frenchman made 79 appearances for the Cityzens across all competitions, recording three assists to his name.
The defender eventually called time on his stint at Manchester City in the summer of 2019 and returned to Valencia as a free agent. That said, he's no longer the most expensive defender in history as Harry Maguire currently holds the record following his £80 million move to Manchester United in 2019.
Manchester City put pressure on Premier League title rivals with Crystal Palace win
The Cityzens came from behind to secure a vital 4-2 victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League when the two sides clashed at Selhurst Park today (April 6). Thanks to that result, the Cityzens have put pressure on their title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool who are also busy in league action this weekend.
The Gunners are scheduled to go head-to-head with Brighton & Hove Albion away from home later today while Jurgen Klopp's side will lock horns with Manchester United in what promises to be another epic clash at Old Trafford tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola's men have now switched their focus to the Champions League, where they will square it off with Real Madrid in the first leg of their quarter-final tie at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday (April 9).