Manchester City ignored Declan Rice quickly, as they have done so many times before.

Manchester City have pulled out of the race to sign Declan Rice and so it looks like the West Ham captain will head to Arsenal this summer.

Man City’s wealth is well proven, but they are not willing to hit the £100m mark for Rice. It is not the first time Pep Guardiola’s side have abandoned a deal at a time when they believe the player’s value is inflated. Mirror Football looked at eight other players who almost joined Man City, and most of them had a bad time afterwards.

Cristiano Ronaldo

CR7 sparked excitement when he returned to Manchester United, and Old Trafford followers chose to ignore the fɑct that he nearly joined Man City that summer. In the end, it was a forgettable comeback, he left many bad images during his return to MU and went to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr.

Marc Cucurella

City are the first of two Premier League sides to be linked with the Brighton left-back. The Spaniard’s value is at its highest as City and Chelsea vie for his signature, but it was the Blues that won with an offer worth £56m.

After Cucurella’s nightmare debut season at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea may wish they hadn’t beaten City to his signature.

Harry Maguire

Maguire’s time at United was rife with flaws, it’s easy to forget that City were even interested in him. Pep Guardiola even openly confessed that City were interested but “cannot afford” to buy him. The Reds won thanks to a record proposal. Four years later, Maguire was closed as a failed contract.

Paul Pogba

Pogba’s talent is undeniable – even Man City thinks so. The Etihad team wanted him before he returned to Old Trafford in 2016. He had an unimpressive six-year stint at Old Trafford. Costing the Red Devils £90m, Pogba finally returned to Juventus for free last year.

Romelu Lukaku

City’s intention to sign Lukaku is not well known, but it is the Belgian who has shed some light on their efforts. He said: “I turned down the offer from Manchester City. It was not the right time, I wanted to do something good for Inter because they saved my career. I am in a deep in the hole at Manchester United, things don’t go well. I’m a big investment for Inter and we’ve done great things together.”

He then chose to join Chelsea and spent another unforgettable time in England.

Timo Werner

Another striker turned down the opportunity to play for Man City, choosing instead Stamford Bridge, Guardiola even phoned Werner to convince him to leave Leipzig for the Etihad. The Germany international can look back on that decision with great regret, as Werner was frequently the subject of ridicule during his time at Chelsea. Similar to Lukaku, Werner eventually returned to the club he left.

Kalidou Koulibaly

Napoli’s £72m price tag has frustrated Guardiola. Instead, the Senegal international also joined Chelsea after having reduced its value to half. But the midfielder’s stint in England lasted only one season before joining Arab club Al Hilal.

Alexis Sanchez

City’s Amazon documentary “All or Nothing” showed they were interested in luring Sanchez away from Arsenal in the summer of 2017. However, Sanchez ended up at Old Trafford just four months later. Five goals in a season and a half caused Sanchez to leave soon.