As Ritchie De Laet takes against Barcelona in 2023, nine Leicester City alumni are still playing.
We’ve chosen nine former Manchester City players who made their debuts for the club over a decade ago yet are still active in the nation or Europe.
Jamie Vardy scored his first Championship goal in nearly a decade on Friday night, making the number nine the solitary survivor at Leicester City from their second-tier title-winning campaign in 2014.
Vardy has seen many players come and go since then, but many of his teammates from ten years ago are still playing. Many of players who played for City in the Championship during that period, such as Chris Wood, Jeff Schlupp, and loanees Ben Mee and Michael Keane, are currently in the Premier League. There are also a number of players that stayed with them for a number of years before going on to further their careers, such as Kasper Schmeichel, Andy King, and Matty James.
Martyn Waghorn, Michael Morrison, Joe Mattock, Curtis Davies, and Kyle Naughton are just a few of the City players that have had excellent EFL careers and are still going strong today. However, we’re looking at athletes who may have dropped off fans’ radars in order for their careers to catch up with them. All of the players listed here made their City debuts ten years ago, in 2013, or before.
He was a City championship winner and fan favorite, and he has continued to win trophies after returning to his first club, Royal Antwerp. They won the Belgian Cup in 2020 and then the double last season, including their first league victory since 1957 thanks to Toby Alderweireld’s 94th-minute winner in the season finale.
That means De Laet will play in the Champions League this season, and he’s not going to back down, even at the age of 34. He has appeared in every game this season, including both Champions League qualification matches against AEK Athens. They play Shakhtar Donetsk, Porto, and Barcelona in the Nou Camp on Tuesday night.
Gradel, once the club’s next great thing, never quite made it at City, despite his brilliant footwork thrilling spectators upon his debut. He had a successful career in England, first with Leeds and subsequently with Bournemouth after moving from France.
Gradel, at 35, is not only still playing, but also doing quite well. final season with Sivasspor in Turkey, he scored 20 goals and had five assists in 44 games across all competitions, including five in the Europa Conference League, helping his team reach the tournament’s final 16. In the summer, he joined Super Lig opponents Gaziantep, where he recorded his first assist against Sivasspor.
Mr. Jonny Hayes
Hayes, an Irish winger, spent a few of years at City after joining from Reading in 2007, but he never established himself in the club and eventually left to Scotland. North of the border, he’s had a successful career, winning a few Premiership championships with Celtic, including a pair under Brendan Rodgers.
He’s returned to Aberdeen at the age of 35. He has two goals and 12 assists last season and started this season with a straight free-kick in a 2-2 draw with St Mirren.
Bori Gabor
Gabor Bori, one half of a famous Hungarian double act with Zsolt Laczko, is still playing part-time football at the age of 39 and is possibly the less interesting of the two. He just retired from full-time football last season, leaving Hungarian third tier club Bicskei and transferring just across the border to Austrian club Pilgersdorf.
He reminisced on his experience in England at the beginning of the year, telling Hungarian media, “I only played 11 games there, including the reserve team.” It was a very different setting.’
“I was astounded; the training center in Leicester was truly world-class.” Even in 2008, when I was playing there, they had eight grass fields, an indoor arena with artificial grass, and substantial medical equipment. It could not possibly be compared to the situation in Hungary at the time. I was loaned from MTK, and then the two teams couldn’t agree on a definitive sale.”
Vitor Miguel
Vitor, one of several loanees at City under Sven Goran Eriksson, had an eventful tenure at the club, with goals, red cards, and injuries. Despite the fact that he never made it with his parent club Benfica, he has had a good career.
He has spent the last seven years with Israeli club Hapoel Be’er Sheva, where he has won trophies, played in Europe, and currently captained. This season, they almost missed out on a berth in the Europa Conference League group stages. He has also become a naturalized citizen, making him a complete Israeli international.
Mr. Jay Spearing
Spearing, a short-term loanee from Liverpool in 2010, is now back at the club where he began his career. He is an over-age player for the Reds’ Under-21s, which is not an unusual occurrence among Premier League teams.
So, in addition to coaching the Under-18s, he will occasionally play for the Under-21s to provide some experience to the squad. This season, he’s made two substitute appearances for them.
Mr. Jeffrey Bruma
Bruma, another Eriksson loanee, returned to his home Netherlands in January to join Heerenveen from Kasimpasa, and he switched again in the summer to join RKC Waalwijk. Since leaving Chelsea permanently, the centre-back has played for PSV, Wolfsburg, and Schalke, and he has earned more than 20 caps for his nation.
He has returned to his country at the age of 31. His first four outings for Waalwijk this season ended in defeat, and he was then an unused replacement when they earned their first win of the season.
Mignasi Ignasi
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The Spanish defender, who spent 12 games on loan at City from Arsenal and scored in a cup shock win against Fulham, has been all over the place in his homeland. After resuming his career with minor clubs Ponferradina and Lugo, he’s subsequently represented Malaga, Getafe, Girona, Leganes, and Huesca, never playing more than 35 games for any single club. He is presently at Granada in La Liga after helping them achieve promotion last season.
Anthony Knockaert
City fans will have been keeping an eye on fan favorite Knockaert until lately, as the French winger has played for a number of teams throughout the nation, including Huddersfield, where he was on loan last season. His contract with Fulham was canceled this summer, and he has returned to France, joining Ligue 2 side Valenciennes. He made his club debut last weekend in a 2-1 loss to Bordeaux.
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