5 players who played for both Manchester City and PSG
Manchester City and PSG will lock horns at the Etihad on Wednesday in an enticing game in the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League.
The Sky Blues will look to avenge their 2-0 loss in Paris in September, although the Ligue 1 giants cannot afford to drop more points. Despite accumulating eight points from four games so far, Mauricio Pochettino's men are a point adrift of their Premier League rivals. A victory in Manchester would put PSG in pole position to win Group A.
That essentially means we have a potential classic on our hands. But the two clubs have had a shared history. A few players in the past have crossed the divide to represent both clubs in their careers. However, Manchester City and PSG have had no direct business with each other since their respective takeovers.
🔜 #ManCity vs. PSG under the lights.
A huge #UCL night at the Etihad.
@ManCity can 🔝 the group. https://t.co/J39gSv114W
Ahead of the mouth-watering kick-off, let's take a trip down memory lane and look at five players who turned out for both Manchester City and PSG:
#5 Alioune Toure
Fresh off winning the French league double with Nantes, Alioune Toure arrived at Manchester City in 2001 as an up-and-coming 23-year-old midfielder.
However, the switch soon turned into a nightmare. Toure endured a serious injury early in the season that ruled him out for large swathes of the 2001-02 campaign. The Sky Blues won the Championship that year to gain promotion to the Premier League, but Toure moved to PSG in the summer.
Although he managed to keep himself fit and lift the Coupe de France in 2004, Toure's first-team opportunities were limited in the French capital. After two years and 35 games at PSG, he was subsequently loaned out to league rivals Guingamp.
#4 Ali Benarbia
Much like Toure, former Algerian great Ali Benarbia was also a hot prospect when he arrived at PSG. He had led AS Monaco and Bordeaux to Ligue 1 titles in 1997 and 1999, respectively.
In fact, he was also the reigning French Division 1 Player of the Year at the time of his switch to Paris in 1999. Alas, he failed to live up to the hype and left the French capital after two dismal campaigns.
Happy 53rd Birthday, Ali Benarbia! 🥳🇩🇿
https://t.co/gwcNhrNTNe
PSG failed to win anything under Benarbia's captaincy, besides a UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2001. That year, he joined Manchester City on a free transfer after two years in the French capital.
In Manchester, he helped City win the Championship with talismanic displays that made him a fan-favourite. His performances that campaign also earned him a place in the 2001-02 Championship Team of the Year.