The stunning free transfer Manchester City attempted to pull off years ago, Pep Guardiola adores him

Manchester City rarely delve into the free agent market.

Ever since Sheikh Mansour took over the Citizens in September 2008, Manchester City have not needed to rely on such a market, instead splashing fees as large as £100m and £77.6m to sign the likes of Jack Grealish and Josko Gvardiol respectively.

However – just before Mansour took over – Manchester City were attempting to wrap up a…