New Players and Youngsters
Raheem Sterling
Skillful, speedy and strong, he is regarded as one of the brightest young talents in English Football. The 20 year old joined City from Liverpool, having earned a reputation as one of Europes hottest talents over the past 2 seasons. Sterling, who opted for the NO 7 shirt for the 2015/2016 season, began his career at Queens Park Rangers before joining Liverpool as a 15 year old in 2010 for an initial fee of £600,000.
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He made us debut aged 17 against Wigan in 2012, and went on to make 129 appearences for the reds, scoring 23 goals. In 2014 he became only the second English player to win the Golden Boy Award- an honour bestowed by European sports journalists on the under 21 player that has had the most impressive season- with previous winners including Linonel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Isco and Paul Pogba- not bad cpmpany to be in. A 2015 professional study by research group soccerrex rated Sterling as the most valuble young player in Europe.
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He also won back to back Liverpool Fc Young player of the year awards for the 2013/2014 and 2014/15 campaigns. Born in Jamacia, Sterling moved to London at the age of seven and was inspired to become a footballer because of the family homes proximity to Wembley Stadium. After catching the eye of scouts at a junior level, he was snapped up by Queens Park Rangers academy. He spent seven years at loftus road, and during his time with the hoops made his international debut at under 16 level with England. He then made the move to Merseyside to join Liverpool in 2010, where he made a name for himself as one of the countrys rising stars.
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A string of impressive displays for the reds earned him a golden boy award in 2014, when a panal of sports jounalists dubbed him the best playerunder the age of 21 playing in Europe. During his time at Anfield, Sterling also become the youngest ever liverpool player to recieve an international cap.
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Born: December 8, 1994 (age 21), Kingston, Jamaica
Children: Melody Rose Sterling
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nitially on the books at Bradford, he moved to Leeds at the age of 11. Aston Villa paid £6m for his services in 2009 and the midfielder went on to become a first-team fixture and an England international. He left Villa for Manchester City under a cloud in summer 2015, just days after ruling out that very move.
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No matter how we try to analyse Delph’s infamous £8million from Aston Villa to Manchester City, Villa fans will still be hissing at the screen while little speckles of spit fly off their tongue as they imitate the sound of a snake.
But in reality, Delph’s transfer is just about as funny as Peter Odemwingie’s bizarre deadline day drive to Loftus Road.
So what actually happened to the then Villa skipper?
On July 10th Delph was due to arrive in Manchester for a medical ahead of a proposed £8m move. The England midfielder failed to show and subsequently released an official statement addressed to the Villa fans declaring his commitment to the club.
A week later Delph changed his mind and the deal joined City as planned.
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Fabian Delph has revealed that conversations with former Manchester City defender Micah Richards influenced him to change his mind about moving to the club.
Delph signed a five-year contract with City on Friday, less than a week after rejecting the transfer and committing his future to Aston Villa through astrongly-worded statement.
It has now emerged that new Villa signing Richards, who had denied persuading Delph to snub City earlier this week, was influential in t
Born: November 21, 1989 (age 26), Bradford
Height: 1.74 m
Nationality: English
Weight: 60 kg
Current teams: England national football team (Midfielder), Manchester City F.C. (#18 / Midfielder)
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Born in Buenos Aires, Otamendi made his Primera División debut for Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield on 10 May 2008, in a 2–1 home win against Rosario Central for the Clausura tournament.[2] During manager Hugo Tocalli's spell he was only fifth-choice stopper, behind Waldo Ponce, Fernando Tobio, Marco Torsiglieri and Mariano Uglessich. However, his role in the first team changed during Ricardo Gareca's first season as head coach, the 2009 Clausura: he replaced Ponce for the third game after the Chilean was injured while playing for his national team,[2] and eventually won a starting position alongside Sebastián Domínguez,[2] playing 17 of the 19 games in Vélez's winning campaign,
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On 23 August 2010, Otamendi was transferred to Portuguese side FC Porto on a €4 million fee, signing a five-year contract –[5] Vélez also retained 50% of his registration rights, with the player having a pre-set price of another €4 million to be met by Porto prior to September 2011.[6] He netted in his first match, a 2–0 home victory over S.C. Olhanense,[7]finishing his first season with 15 appearances and five goals (notably both in a 2–0 away win against S.C. Braga[8]) as the northerners won the Primeira Liga championship.
On 6 September 2011, Porto exercised the rights to sign the remainder of Otamendi's playing rights.[9][10] He played 30 official games during the season to help the club to another two major titles, notably the back-to-back domestic leagu
On 5 February 2014, Otamendi was sold to Valencia CF in La Liga for €12 million, on a five-year contract starting on 1 July.[11] He was immediately loaned to Clube Atlético Mineiro in Brazil,[12] and played 19 times for the team from Belo Horizonte, scoring once to open a 4–1 win at city rivals América Futebol Clube (MG) on 23 March in the first leg of the semi-final of the state championship.[13]
Otamendi made his debut in the Spanish top level on 23 August 2014, starting in a 1–1 away draw against Sevilla FC.[14] He scored his first goal for his new club on 4 October, helping to a 3–1 home success over Atlético Madrid.[15]
On 4 January 2015, Otamendi headed Valencia's winner in a 2–1 home win over Real Madrid, ending their opponents' club record 22-match winning streak as a result.[16] After helping Los Che qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in four years, becoming the first club stopper to score six goals in the league in the process,[17] he was the only player from his team to be named in the La Liga Team of the Year
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Full nameNicolás Hernán Gonzalo Otamendi
Date of birth12 February 1988 (age 28)
Place of birthBuenos Aires, Argentina
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Playing positionCentre back
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Fabian Delph
Nicolas Otamendi
Breaking Through
Kelechi Iheanacho
Born: October 3, 1996 (age 19), Imo State, Nigeria
Nationality: Nigerian
Height: 1.87 m
Weight: 77 kg
Hugely promising and a natural goal scorer ” Kelechi Iheanacho first rose to prominence during the Club’s 2014 summer tour of the USA where the youngster caught the eye with a string of fine performances. With six goals and seven assists at the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, Iheanacho was one of the most promising talents to come out of Africa for many years, but it was City who moved quickly to secure his services. His sizeable contribution for Nigeria saw him named the U17 World Cup’s best player, earning him the coveted Golden Ball trophy. After injuries ruled the Nigerian out of much of the 2014/15 season, he returned to score in the FA Youth Cup final against Chelsea and then followed this up with the only goal in the International Premier League Cup final win over FC Porto, landing his first honour with the club in the process. Kelechi continued his hot scoring streak for the EDS in the final weeks of the season, netting twice against champions Manchester United in the final league game to take his tally to six in seven games. By the start of the 2015/16 season, the talented teenager had done enough to impress manager Manuel Pellegrini that there was no need to replace outgoing strikers Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic, and he didn’t disappoint in a superb first season at senior level. He climbed off the bench in only his second game to score a last-minute winner away to Crystal Palace. This was just the start for the striker who was on his way to a fantastic first full campaign, during which he also won his first senior Nigeria caps. Despite only starting 11 games, Kelechi ended the season with 14 goals in all competitions with only Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero scoring more for the Blues. A natural goal-scorer with excellent technique and an eye for the unusual, Iheanacho looks set for a career at the very highest level with plenty more goals to come.
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Jason Deneyer
Jason Denayer has been toughened up by his year north of the border – and now wants to play more regularly alongside his idol and mentor Vincent Kompany. Amazingly, despite being at Manchester City for two years, and breaking into the Belgium national team this year, Denayer had not partnered the man who captains both teams.That partnership was almost written in the stars – two men, both from down-trodden parts of Brussels, one with a Belgian father and Congolese mother, the other with a Congolese father and Belgian mother. Denayer's new five-year deal , and the intention to make him City's fourth centre back this season – currently behind Kompany, Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala - makes that all-Belgian duet a distinct possibility.
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Jason Grégory Marianne Denayer (born 28 June 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for English club Manchester City. He made his professional debut while on loan at Celtic, being named the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year after helping them win the Scottish Premiership and Scottish League Cup.
He played several times for Belgium at Under-19 and Under-21 levels, before making his full senior debut in March 2015.
Born in Jette, Brussels, Belgium, to a Congolese mother and Belgian father, Denayer started playing football at age six, where he started out at FC Ganshoren and then RSC Anderlecht. At the age of 13, he joined the JMG Academy in Lier. It was there he was converted from playing as a striker to becoming a defender. Denayer credits his time at JMG for honing his football technique. Youths at the academy do not play normal competition football, instead taking part in small-sided games among each other, focusing on technique and education in a private school. They trained in bare feet to improve their touch; "It helps to develop your technical skills.
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Full nameJason Grégory Marianne Denayer
Date of birth28 June 1995 (age 21)
Place of birthJette, Brussels, Belgium
Height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionCentre back