Raheem Sterling is headed for Manchester City

But is City the place for a young English player to develop? The failure of the club to maintain an English core since being bought by Sheikh Mansour in 20108 is well-known, with the likes of Scott Sinclair and Jack Rodwell finding their careers stalling.

Sportsmail takes a look back at the English hits and misses at the Etihad stadium... 

Signed two days before the Abu Dhabi Group took over City, the England winger failed to recapture his past glories at the club.

A decent enough first season, but he fell out of favour under Roberto Mancini, and barely played in his final season. Released in the summer of 2011.

Another expensive signing from Chelsea, Bridge's most memorable game as a City player came against his former club, when he refused to shake John Terry's hand.

First choice in his first eighteen months, he helped City into the Europa League in 2010, the season they just missed out on Champions League football.

But the arrival of Aleksandr Kolarov and then Gael Clichy saw him fade out of the team, and by January 2011 he was deemed surplus to requirements. 

Loans to West Ham, Sunderland and Brighton followed, before he joined Reading on a free in 2013.

In his four years at the club Barry helped transform City from a Champions League-chasing side to one of the division's established elite.

He played 34 of the club's 38 games in their first title-winnings season, and by the time he left for Everton, first on loan and then permanently, he had become a big part of the club's history.

(dailymail.co.uk)