Manchester City signed Netherlands midfielder Nigel de Jong on this day in 2009 as a remarkable spending spree gathered pace.

The club were undergoing an astonishing overhaul following the takeover of Sheikh Mansour the previous summer and De Jong became a key cog in their rapid transformation from mid-table battlers to eventual champions.

De Jong, then 29, penned a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Premier League club after City agreed a fee of around £18million with Hamburg.

His arrival came soon after the high-profile captures of Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bridge at the then City of Manchester Stadium and was quickly followed, in the same transfer window, by that of goalkeeper Shay Given.

City had begun sending shockwaves through the transfer market on the day of the sheikh’s takeover in August 2008 when they snapped up Brazilian Robinho from Real Madrid for £32.5million.

They had set their sights even higher in January 2009 as they made an audacious, then world record, £100million attempt to buy Kaka from AC Milan.

That failed but De Jong’s signing, albeit far more modest, proved sensible as the defensive midfielder added steel to a side needing a grafter amid a huge influx of exciting attacking talent. Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez were among the newcomers the following summer.

The Dutchman went on to make 137 appearances for City over three and a half years, helping them win the FA Cup and Premier League, before leaving for Milan.

He later had spells in the United States, Turkey and Qatar and also earned 81 international caps before retiring in 2021.

Mohamed Salah has "a year to prove" himself worthy of the new bumper deal handed to him by Liverpool, believes former Netherlands international Nigel de Jong.

The Egypt international put an end to long-running speculation about his future in July by signing a fresh three-year contract to take him through to 2025 at Anfield.

With Sadio Mane having departed for Bayern Munich, the move represented a major part of Liverpool's off-season transfer business to keep one of the key figures of the Jurgen Klopp era on Merseyside.

But a slow start to the season for Liverpool has seen Salah among others come in for criticism, with the forwatd's second goal of the new Premier League campaign on Monday against Manchester United not enough to stave off a 2-1 defeat for the Reds.

With just two points from their first three games, Liverpool are already arguably facing an uphill battle in the title race with Manchester City, and now De Jong has opined that Salah is on limited time to justify the faith shown in him.

"If I was the sporting director and I'd just extended the contract of probably the best player in my squad, I'll give you a year to prove yourself," he told beIN SPORTS.

"Are you worth another [three] years? You need to produce the same numbers, especially on the wages he's on.

"I think it's really important for Salah, and also for Liverpool, to find a way to be successful together in order to strive for him to stay at Liverpool for a long time. If not, they have to make a decision as well.

"I've said it many times over the past couple of years: Mane is the soul of the team. He is a complete player in his energy, in producing numbers, in the way he strides forward.

"Of course, I'm not saying Salah isn't a great player, but he's staggering when it comes down to the numbers."