When Sven-Goran Eriksson took the reins at Manchester City in July 2007, the squad he was working with was a shambles. It had finished the previous season having scored just 10 home league goals; the quality of the football was beyond dire; and many supporters questioned whether they’d even bother returning to watch the new campaign.
Backed by new chairman Thaksin Shinawatra’s chequebook—which would later turn out to be not that useful—Eriksson set about bringing in a whole host of players to boost his squad.
The early headlines were grabbed by the likes of Geovanni, a Brazilian who came with a good reputation having scored in the Champions League against rivals Manchester United, and Rolando Bianchi, an Italian striker who had been netting goals for fun in Serie A for Reggina.