City were never in for him because he reportedly fell out with Pep, like many a player before him, back when he was a youth player under him which led him to starring at Dortmund. If that wasn't the case and he had left on good terms they most definitely would've been in for him.
Its not like they've never spent big on wingers before either, they paid a then record fee for an English player when they bought Sterling at the same age when he similarly fell out with Brendan Rogers at Liverpool and spent another 50m the next summer on Sane who was also 20.
Truly mad that we're using City under Pep as an example of saving money when he's quite literally spent closer to a billion euros in the transfer market in 4 seasons there