Man City legend reveals players were convinced club were signing CR7 and Messi

Pablo Zabaleta proved it's not just fans that get sucked in by transfer news when he commented on Manchester City's takeover in 2008.

The retired right-back has revealed the Citizens squad were convinced the club were signing Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Zabaleta was City's last signing before Sheikh Mansour purchased the side where he immediately flexed his financial muscle.

Brazilian forward Robinho was instantly snared from Real Madrid – despite the winger pining for a Chelsea move.

Dimitar Berbatov and Franck Ribery were also reported targets for City, who were managed by Mark Hughes at the time.

Robinho's arrival at the Etihad caused shockwaves around the dressing room, with Zabaleta declaring players 'were s******* themselves' that they would soon be replaced.

He previously told La Nacion: “I was seduced by going to England.

“And I thought, 'I am a couple of years older, I have another experience, and there will be time to go back to Spain or go to Italy'.

“Ten days after my transfer, the purchase of the club by the people of Abu Dhabi was executed, and four days later they invested £40million for Robinho.

“And there I said. 'Now what do I do? I'm going to last six months here!'

“We took it a bit as a joke and to the free lockers in the locker room we started putting 'Messi', 'Cristiano Ronaldo', we were s****ing ourselves.”

Zabaleta's premonition of Argentine compatriot Messi joining almost came true in 2017 after City told Barcelona they were prepared to pay £100m for his services.

But Messi ultimately signed a new deal until 2021, where City again looked to nab him on a free transfer, only for Paris Saint-Germain to pip them to his signature.

As for Ronaldo, he came close to signing for City later in that summer window, only for rivals Manchester Uited to hijack the move following an intervention from Sir Alex Ferguson.

Zabaleta, who departed in 2017 after winning two Premier League titles, two League Cups and the FA Cup, joined in the same summer as club legend Vincent Kompany.

Robinho's signing wasn't the only high-profile signing under Mansour's ownership in the 2008/09 season, as City added Wayne Bridge, Craig Bellamy, Nigel de Jong and Shay Given to their ranks in the winter market.

But ultimately they finished in tenth spot – leading Mansour to dip into his pockets to sign Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Joleon Lescott, Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz and Patrick Vieira.

And City have continued to splash the cash year in, year out, where they are now recognised as one of Europe's top clubs.

Only the Champions League has evaded City, but with Erling Haaland leading the line, Pep Guardiola's men are the favourites to lift the European Cup this campaign – even without Ronaldo and Messi.