What Pep Guardiola Has Invested in Defenders at Manchester City Since 2016

Think Football Ideas
Jan 19
5 min read

What Guardiola Has Invested in Defenders at Manchester City Since 2016 — What Pep Guardiola Has Invested in Defenders at Manchester City Since 2016

Pep Guardiola did not arrive at Manchester City believing defence could be solved with one decision or one summer. He arrived convinced that it would require repetition, correction and, above all, money spent with intent.

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Since 2016, the Cityzens have invested more than £700 million in defenders alone, a rolling reconstruction that has never really stopped. Some signings were central pillars.

Others were experiments. A few were quietly written off. Together, they tell the story of how Guardiola learned, refined and ultimately mastered the defensive side of English football, helping him seal an astounding six league titles.

It is worth starting at the bottom, because Guardiola has never treated recruitment as something reserved for the elite end of the market. Some of Man City’s defensive signings barely registered at the Etihad at all.

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Pablo Marí arrived for little more than loose change, never played a competitive minute, and was sold at a profit. Ko Itakura, Philippe Sandler and Issa Kaboré followed similar paths, signed cheaply, developed elsewhere, or moved on without ceremony.

These were not failures so much as background investments, the kind that allow a club to take risks without consequence.

Then there were the players who became something more than their price tags suggested. Oleksandr Zinchenko, signed for just £1.7m, was never meant to be a defender at all, yet he became a trusted full-back in title races and Champions League knockout ties.

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Angeliño and Yan Couto passed through in different ways, neither quite fitting Guardiola’s long-term vision but both leaving for significantly more than they cost.

Oleksandr Zinchenko won four Premier League titles at the Etihad before leaving for Arsenal in 2022.

Even Pedro Porro, who never truly wore City’s colours in anger, served as another example of a system designed not just to win matches but to extract value.

As the spending rose into the tens of millions, the intent sharpened. Manuel Akanji arrived for £15m and immediately offered reliability, versatility and calm, eventually starting in City’s first Champions League final win.

Danilo, Sergio Gómez and Juma Bah filled roles that were sometimes tactical, sometimes transitional. These were not glamorous signings, but they mattered, particularly in seasons where injuries and fixture congestion demanded depth rather than stardom.

Some signings, though cheaper than the middle tier, now take on renewed importance. City completed the £20m signing of Marc Guéhi on January 19, 2026, a move prompted by injuries to Joško Gvardiol, who recently had surgery on a broken shinbone, and Rúben Dias, sidelined for four to six weeks.

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While it addresses an immediate need, the transfer also carries long-term value, as Guéhi’s contract at Palace was due to expire this summer.

The fee is modest, and Man City have secured a battle-tested defender before other clubs could have swooped in during the summer window.

Bernardo Silva and Gvardiol celebrating at the Bernabéu – [GIF]

At 25, Guéhi arrives as an established Premier League centre-back, England international and former Crystal Palace captain, not a prospect, but a reliable reinforcement in a defence suddenly stretched thin.

Even at a relatively modest fee, this latest signing pushes City’s total defensive outlay under Guardiola past £700m, proving that necessity, in this era, still comes at a premium.

The middle tier of Guardiola’s defensive spending is where the story becomes more complicated. Nathan Aké, signed for £40m, has oscillated between indispensable and unavailable, yet played a crucial role in the Treble-winning campaign.

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Kyle Walker, bought for £45m, became the fastest insurance policy in English football, the man Guardiola turned to whenever control was threatened by chaos.

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John Stones, signed for £47.5m in Guardiola’s first summer, endured years of scrutiny before eventually emerging as one of the most complete defenders of the era, a footballer who embodied the manager’s ideals rather than merely surviving them.

Higher still, the margins narrowed. Aymeric Laporte arrived for £57m and delivered immediate quality, titles and stability before being replaced without sentiment. João Cancelo, at £60m, offered brilliance and invention from full-back, but also reminded Guardiola that trust matters as much as talent.

His departure was abrupt, but City barely missed a step. Benjamin Mendy, signed for £52m, represented the most expensive miscalculation of the Guardiola era, a deal that collapsed entirely and served as a warning about betting heavily on physical promise alone.

Everything changed with Rúben Dias. Signed for £65m in 2020, he did not simply improve City’s defence; he transformed it. Leadership returned. Authority was restored.

Rúben Dias and John Stones celebrating with the crowd at the Etihad - [GIF]

City stopped looking fragile in moments that mattered. From that point on, Guardiola’s defensive spending was no longer about searching. It was about reinforcing dominance. Dias remains the clearest example of money spent not just wisely, but decisively.

Joško Gvardiol, signed for £77m, sits at the top of the list and feels like the final evolution of Guardiola’s thinking. Young, adaptable and technically secure, he was bought not to fix a problem but to ensure one never emerged.

That he arrived after City had already won everything only underlines the point. Guardiola has never believed that success means standing still.

Taken together, this list is not simply a record of expenditure. It is a timeline of adjustment, patience and occasional ruthlessness. Guardiola did not build Manchester City’s defence in one window or with one idea.

Since Guardiola's arrival at the Etihad, Man City have spent over £700m on defenders.

He built it by returning again and again to the market, correcting errors, upgrading strengths and refusing to accept that yesterday’s solution would work forever.

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The money is vast, yes. However, the real investment has always been in control. Control of space, tempo and outcomes. And that, more than any transfer fee, is what Guardiola has been buying since 2016.