Over €1 billion spent and no Champions League - Pep Guardiola's shopping cart at Manchester City!

On February 1, 2016, Manchester City announced that they have got onboard Josep Guardiola as their new manager who will take charge from the beginning of the 2016-17 campaign. And as soon as he was roped in, he handed a wishlist of players to the upper echelons of the City headquarters.

His demands were granted and in came  İlkay Gündoğan from Borussia Dortmund and Nolito from Celta Vigo, winger Leroy Sané from Schalke 04, and defender John Stones from Everton. He even replaced one of City's loyal lieutenants in Joe Hart with Claudio Bravo. However, at the end of his first season at the Etihad, he failed to win a single silverware - the first ever in his managerial career.

So once again it was a busy summer at City as Pep had decreed that he wants wholesale changes in the defensive department. Bravo was relegated to the bench and Ederson Moraes was brought in. Wing-backs Benjamin Mendy, Danilo and Kyle Walker were also signed and the old guard of Aleksandar Kolarov, Gaël Clichy, Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta were dispensed with. Aymeric Laporte and Bernardo Silva were the two other expensive acquisitions.

In the subsequent season (2017-18), Guardiola won his first Premier League title amassing 100 points but failed to progress beyond the quarterfinals in the UEFA Champions League as they were beaten in both legs by Liverpool. The quest for European glory continued in 2018-19 with the addition of Riyadh Mahrez to the roaster. But this time another English side in Tottenham Hotspur spoiled their party in the last eight.

So once again Guardiola went shopping with a blank cheque and picked up Joao Cancelo, Rodri, Angelino, and Peter Porro. However, they finished second behind Liverpool in the Premier League and suffered a shock defeat to Lyon in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. After missing out on two major trophies, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, and Ferran Torres were signed to bolster the squad ahead of the 2020-21 season. He lited the Premier League once again, his third overall, but fell just short of lifting the UEFA Champions League title as they were defeated by Chelsea in the final.

To add more teeth in attack, City signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for an astronomical fee of €117.50m. However, Grealish has not yet been able to produce the goods that is expected of him. However, Manchester City were thwarted by Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals. To date, Guardiola has spent €1032.6m in transfers since he joined.