Sometimes the biggest obstacle to convincing players to sign for Manchester City or Manchester United – and to stay there – is the place itself
Dani Alves was all set to join Manchester City in the summer of 2017. He was excited about linking up again with Pep Guardiola, with whom he had conquered the world at Barcelona, and had even just had lunch with the Catalan coach to begin planning for the coming season at the Etihad Stadium.
The Brazilian had also convinced Juventus to end his contract early so that the reunion could happen. Everything was set up. But then, to City's shock and Guardiola's fury, Alves pulled out of the move and signed for Paris Saint-Germain instead.
The reason? Alves' then wife, Joana Sanz, did not want to live in Manchester. For some reason, the Spanish model, who Alves had just married on the tiny, picturesque island of Formentera days before making the U-turn, preferred the City of Love over the home of Oasis and The Smiths.
Even though Manchester has undergone a huge transformation in recent years and is rivalling New York for tall buildings, it still lags behind Madrid, Barcelona, Milan and Paris when it comes to attractive locations for footballers to live in.
And Sanz, who split with Alves this year after he was provisionally jailed and charged with alleged sexual assault, is far from the only partner of a footballer who has not warmed to the city.
Angel Di Maria, Carlos Tevez and Nolito have been the most vocal in their criticism of Manchester while a desire for a change of scenery and a move to warmer climes is believed to be the main reason why Ilkay Gundogan has left Man City for Barcelona. It is also a big factor in Bernardo Silva departing City this summer.
With the transfer window in full swing and many changes on the horizon for both Manchester clubs, GOAL takes a look at why some foreign players did not enjoy living in the city and highlights the notable few ones who fondly remember their time there.
Getty ImagesAvoiding a club because of the city 'an error'
A source who helps footballers settle into new clubs told GOAL that City and United's statuses as among the biggest and most successful teams in the world means the attraction of playing for them overrides any concerns players may have about living in Manchester.
"There's no player I can think of who wouldn't want to go to City or United, they are such big clubs that they are above these concerns, the club weighs more than the city," he says.
"I wouldn't say that at any moment in the prime of your career you'd be swayed by a city. Those two clubs are among the top five in the world, to not go there due to the city itself would be an error.
"All the players want to go to England, it's the best league in the world for a reason. I don't think it's a deciding factor, a city can be better or worse, and players mostly stay in their homes as their day-to-day activity is pretty basic and they mostly focus on playing football.
"If you ask Haaland or Grealish they'll be delighted, they've just won the treble. I don't think the city is too much of a factor for young players."
AdvertisementFC Barcelona'You cannot compare Manchester with Barcelona'
But to the likes of Alves and Di Maria who were already global stars and Champions League winners, off-the-pitch factors matter more. The same is true for Gundogan, who has spent seven years at City and after captaining them to win the treble, has achieved everything possible with the club.
"It depends on the stage of your career. If you're young and starting out no-one would say no to going there for that reason," adds the source. "But Gundogan has won everything, so he wants a new challenge and he's been in Manchester for seven years, so why would he stay somewhere with grey skies and, for example, where he can't get good sushi?
"The city of course helps to convince the player and you cannot compare Manchester with somewhere like Barcelona, where you have perfect food, it's sunny all day and you have the beach. Anyone in the world would want to live there. Where do people go on holiday? To Barcelona. There's no city in the UK that can offer you as much.
"I don't think Manchester is an ugly city but on a gastronomic level it leaves a bit to be desired. It has improved but it's not Paris, Barcelona or even London, which is the New York of Europe."
GettyImproving cuisine, despite the complaints
A lack of good food in Manchester is a common complaint among the partners of players. Di Maria's wife described the local food as "disgusting" while David de Gea's girlfriend Edurne Garcia, who opted against living full time in Manchester when the goalkeeper moved to United in 2011, said you had to seek out the best eateries, and even then they were not as good as the offerings in Spain.
Gundogan's wife Sara Arfaoui made headlines last year by complaining about a shortage of quality restaurants. "I tried so bad to find a good restaurant but horrible food everywhere," she said. "Maybe in London but in Manchester nothing. I'm sorry."
But Manchester's culinary reputation has been growing steadily, leading it to be named by as the number one city to visit in the UK in 2023. Two years ago, it was chosen by as the third best city in the world, only trailing San Francisco and Amsterdam.
Guardiola helped launch TAST, a high-end Catalan eatery in the city centre, and there are a number of other top-quality Spanish restaurants dotted around town. Guardiola likes to indulge in Japanese restaurant Musu, while Erling Haaland likes to go to Indian street food spot Dishoom and Italian restaurant San Carlo, in addition to grilling his own steaks during City's Premier League title party.
Chinese restaurant Wings has long been popular with players and managers and was the favourite haunt of Louis van Gaal during his two years as United manager. Another popular eatery is Zouk Tea Bar and Grill, where United players are often seen and where pop stars Rihanna and Drake have dined.
Getty ImagesNolito and the lack of sunshine
Manchester's grey skies and heavy rainfall are the butt of many jokes. However, it only ranks as the 16th wettest city in Europe. Milan, Munich and Lyon all have more rainfall, even though weather is rarely mentioned as a reason why players would not join AC Milan, Inter, Lyon or Bayern Munich.
Former City winger Nolito made headlines by declaring that the lack of sunshine in Manchester had made his daughter's skin change colour and that she looked like she had been "living in a cave". A doctor even advised him to give her vitamin D tablets.
Nolito had joined City from Celta Vigo, the wettest city in Spain and which receives 5.8mm average daily rainfall compared to 3.2 in Manchester, so he should have been able to cope with the rain. But he struggled to deal with the short days in the winter.
He told : "We’d have lunch together, dinner at home, go down and have a coffee, but it didn’t quite work. If it gets dark at 5pm then at six it’s like it’s 10 o’clock and you even start to get tired. You think: ‘Bloody hell, it’s only six!’”