Blast from the past: Where are some former Manchester City players today?

Today let’s take a look back at some names from Manchester City past that we haven’t heard in quite a minute.

Here are some former players that we may have forgot about or were far in the back of our minds.

Jason Denayer, OL Lyon

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The man who was to be the future of City’s defense leads us off. He started at City when they had a stacked back line. Names like Vincent Kompany, Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott were ahead of him and it proved to much for young Denayer.

He was sent on loan to Scotland (Celtic), Turkey (Galatasaray) and within England (Sunderland) the next three years after 4 years of bench riding and academy matches only.

What’s more is he never played a competitive game for City in four years prior to his loans. It was not until 2018 that he sealed a permanent move to Lyon where he now starts for the French giant.

Eliaquim Mangala, Valencia

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Now plying his trade at a former club, Mangala was once heralded as a City savior in the defense. His reported fee of £31.8 million transfer fee was incredibly high for a defender at the time and he was to start right away. However he could never cement a spot and in addition to some errors in matches made him a falling out candidate fairly quickly.

A player who many City fans had deemed cursed due to his mistakes, City cut losses and sent him out on loan two years in a row just 18 month after signing him. He signed a free transfer for old club Valencia in 2019 where he has seen mixed results. His luck continued to be down as he and many other teammates were hit with the COVID-19 virus after its breakout in Spain. A player who promised to be a star and was not.

Jo, Nagoya Grampus

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Next up is Jo, who is still kicking and playing in Japan for Grampus and was probably the player I was most certain was going to be a star. His career at City began with much fanfare after a reported £19 million fee, a club record at the time yet he played just 6 games his first season. Things never bettered either having never found his footing or chemistry with teammates he was shipped out on loan various times and then ultimately sold to to Brazil and joined Internacional. A flash in the pan, he Scored only one official goal for City. Definitely one of the bigger what if’s had he been good with City.

Honroable/Popular Mentions-

Carlos Tevez, Boca Juniors. The Argentine who was starring up front the season City won their first league title in what felt like ages.

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Edin Dzeko, Aleksander Kolarov, AS Roma

An Eastern European connection who were at the heart of many of City’s triumphs including that first league title with Tevez.

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Pablo Zabeleta, West Ham

Rounding out that title squad is Zaba, a fan favorite and true role model.

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Last two, I will combine in Mario Balotelli and Robinho.

Two of my personal all time favorites to grace a City shirt. The flair, cockiness and goal scoring made me love these two as they wore the sky blue and took City to new heights. Balo of course remembered for his assist in the famous AGUERROOO goal in 2012 and Robinho a paradigm changer in his move from Real Madrid.

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That will do it. Hope you had fun remembering some City players of old.