The Manchester City of today has become more synonymous with spending fortunes on new players – but is wasn't always this way.
In fact, the reigning Premier League champions have made incredibly good use of the free transfer market in times gone by. It wasn't all that long ago Bosman deals were considerably more common in football, and City utilised the method to make their fair share of star acquisitions.
Pep Guardiola's side are by no means against a free arrival, having brought current members like Ilkay Gundogan and Stefan Ortega in at no expense. But gone are the days when such frugality was required to fill a squad at the Etihad Stadium.
That doesn't mean those free arrivals were lacking in quality, however. And Mirror Sport has broken down some of the finest frees to join the club's ranks over the years, from Champions League-winners to rival recruits out of Old Trafford.
Man Utd turncoat trio
For a club that was routinely mocked as Manchester United's "noisy neighbours" of old, luring star names from Old Trafford was considered something of a coup for City. Even if those particular talents were somewhat over the hedge, as was the case for Peter Schmeichel, Andy Cole and Owen Hargreaves.
It was three years after lifting the Treble at Old Trafford that Schmeichel made the controversial move to City from Aston Villa for a single season before his retirement. And his decision sprouted an iconic tunnel moment when former team-mate Gary Neville rejected the handshake of a familiar face when they bumped into one another before the derby.
Cole – who had been so critical to United making history in 1999 – didn't complete his own free transfer to City until 2005. Fulham wanted desperately to keep the striker after a successful one-year stay at Craven Cottage, but he instead returned to the north west and scored 10 times in 23 outings for the Sky Blues before joining Portsmouth for £500,000.
Hargreaves didn't achieve nearly as much for United – albeit winning the Premier League and Champions League – but has nonetheless been decried as a traitor by many among the Old Trafford faithful. His 2011 switch to City was considered a scandalous move considering Sir Alex Ferguson had kept him on the books for four years despite his devastating injury woes, which only continued at the Etihad.
Didi Hamann
Didi Hamann's 2006 transfer saga was a bizarre case in that he had begrudgingly agreed to join Bolton on a free when his Liverpool contract expired. The German was a major part of the Reds squad that had come back from the brink to beat AC Milan to the Champions League one year prior and didn't want to leave Anfield.
But one month after shaking hands to join Wanderers, he reneged on the deal and instead move to City. The latter paid a £400,000 compensation fee, though former Bolton chairman Phil Gartside told Hamann he was never officially their player.
"What you never realised was that we never actually countersigned the papers and just put them in the drawer," he said during a 2013 talkSPORT appearance along side the retired midfielder.
"The next thing we know, you came along and told us you'd got this opportunity to go to Manchester City – so we actually sold you without actually signing you; did you know that? We got £400,000 from Manchester City for a player we never actually signed – and that's the truth."
What's even more bizarre is the fact Gartside was wrong by all accounts, with a Premier League investigation finding Hamann was registered as a Bolton player on July 1, 2006.
The two-time FA Cup-winner and World Cup runner-up spent three years with City but never quite hit the same heights as his top-flight career petered out.
Arsenal icons
When the aforementioned Schmeichel hung up his boots in 2003, City targeted another Premier League icon in David Seaman. But it turned out Arsenal were right to release their stalwart after 564 appearances considering he lasted just six months in Manchester before retiring due to injury.
Their decision to invest in Patrick Vieira six years later went a little better, taking advantage after Jose Mourinho cut the player loose from Inter's squad in January 2010. The Arsenal icon and captain of the iconic Invincibles team – who went on to coach City's reserves – returned to England for 18 months and signed off his career by winning the FA Cup for a fifth and final time.
Though not of the same calibre as that Arsenal duo, Bacary Sagna made the jump to City directly from the Emirates in 2014 on a free. Despite the Abu Dhabi ownership of City being well underway by the time Sagna joined, a League Cup crown in 2016 was the only trophy he lifted in three years on their books.
Geovanni
To their credit, City spotted something in Geovanni that other Premier League sides failed to notice until it was too late. Before his days dazzling in a cult-like Hull City attack, the Brazilian had some impressive patches for one season only in Manchester.
The diminutive attacking midfielder-cum-winger had an impressive CV before finding his way to England. He spent a brief time on the books with Barcelona and Benfica before City signed him on a free, having been turned down by Portsmouth following a trial.
Yet despite a very promising start for City, scoring in early fixtures against Man United and West Ham, he was let go after a single season. City's loss turned out to be Hull's gain, however, and the Fantasy Football icon played a crucial role keeping the Tigers up in the 2008/09 season before departing when they were relegated the following year.