5 players you didn't know played for Manchester City
Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City have had some of the world’s best talents in their ranks in the last decade or so, but there are many popular names who you may not have known were players at the English club at some point in their careers.
While the likes of Denis Suarez and Jerome Boateng are the more obvious names, we will take a look at five players who you would not believe were once at Manchester City.
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#5 Pablo Mari
Arsenal’s latest signing Pablo Mari was a Manchester City player for three years between 2016 and 2019. The centre-back was roped in by the Premier League giants after impressing with then-Spanish second division outfit Gimnàstic. He was immediately loaned out to sister club Girona before one-year spells with Dutch club NAC Breda and Spain’s Deportivo La Coruna.
Mari did not make a single appearance for the Citozens and is considered a “flop signing” by many of the club’s supporters. However, the defender rebuilt his career at Brazilian side Flamengo where he became the first Spaniard to win the Copa Libertadores, South America’s most coveted club competition.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who spent three years at City as an assistant manager, snapped up his fellow countryman in the January transfer window.
A technically-gifted left-footed centre-back, Mari is excellent on-the-ball, strong in the air and isn’t afraid of lunging into a tackle. Although his physicality and positional intelligence is unmatched, he has a significant lack of pace. Pep Guardiola is extremely demanding of his centre-halves which is probably why he didn’t make it at the Manchester club but we are yet to see if he can prove the Catalan wrong with his much-anticipated loan spell at Arsenal.
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