Mail Sport is working with our readers to find the greatest player of all time at each of the 20 Premier League clubs.
Today we look at the legends of Manchester City, from 1930s goalscoring machine Erik Brook to Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell and modern day superstars Kevin De Bruyne.
And once you’ve decided who the best ever is, it’s time to vote.
Manchester City have always been a great club, but eight league titles in the last 13 seasons and excellent success in knockout competitions, including the 2023 Champions League title, have taken the club to a new level.
Eric Brook was the club’s top scorer for 78 years, netting 177 times between 1928 and 1939. He provided an assist in the 1934 FA Cup Final and was a regular in their first Championship season, 1936–37.
Peter Doherty was a brilliant goalscorer for Manchester City, pictured here in 1936
Goalkeeper Bert Trautmann played an important role in modern British history
However, Brook was not the top scorer that year: that honour went to Peter Doherty, who became the top scorer in the First Division with 32 goals.
Len Shackleton also called Doherty ‘the genius of geniuses’ and the Northern Ireland forward possessed an elegance that set City apart from the bloody approach of most teams of the era.
City’s next period of glory came in the late 1960s, when, under the management duo of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison, they heroically won the Championship, the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Goalkeeper Bert Trautmann played a major role in modern British history. A German prisoner of war, he remained in this country after 1945 and became a popular figure, particularly after playing on with a broken neck to help Man City beat Birmingham to win the FA Cup in 1956.
Francis Lee, who later became chairman after making a fortune outside football, was a stocky, powerful striker who arrived from Bolton for £60,000 and helped usher in City’s success.
He scored in City’s 4–3 win over Newcastle as they famously beat Manchester United to the 1968 Championship. Famous for winning and taking penalties, his most important penalty came in 1970 as City beat Poland’s Gornik Zabrze 2–1 to win their first European trophy.
Winger Mike Summerbee provided the glamour that his good friend George Best brought to United across the road.
Mike Summerbee helped City to promotion and is regarded as a club legend
When ‘Buzzer’ arrived at Maine Road from Swindon in 1965, City were in the Second Division. Summerbee was an ever-present as they won promotion in his debut season and became English champions two years later. He remains a visible presence at the club as an ambassador.
Colin Bell played 48 international matches and would have played many more had he not suffered a serious knee injury that ended his career at the age of 29.
Bell’s running ability from midfield earned him the nickname ‘Nijinsky’, after the legendary racehorse. He was capable of scoring all sorts of goals, from poachers’ shots to beautiful strikes from outside the penalty area.
Bell died in 2021. As a mark of the respect he enjoys at City, a stand at the Etihad Stadium has been named after him.
Colin Bell scored all sorts of goals and is remembered with much affection at the club
Defender Alan Oakes, who played more times for the Citizens than anyone else, provided reliability. He made 680 appearances in total. Oakes was at the club from 1959 to 1976 and would have played for England had he not been battling Bobby Moore for a place in his prime.
Oakes’ only mistake came on his debut at the age of 17, when he gave away a penalty, which was saved by Trautmann.
The purchase of City by Abu Dhabi’s owners in 2008 revolutionised the club and heralded a new era.
Vincent Kompany had already signed just before the takeover and the Belgian central defender later became captain of the club, which began to dominate national football.
Despite a series of injuries, Kompany’s long-range strike against Leicester was voted Goal of the Season in 2019 as City beat Liverpool to the title.
A few weeks later he ended his career in England by winning the FA Cup after a 6-0 victory over Watford at Wembley, completing a unique domestic clean sweep for City.
Vincent Kompany was the perfect leader for City and helped usher in the glory era
Sergio Agüero scored 260 goals for the club, but none were more important than this one against QPR, which secured the Premier League title
Arguably the most famous goal in City’s history was scored by Sergio Agüero in the dying seconds of the 2012 game against QPR, which secured City’s first Premier League title at the expense of rivals United.
It was one of 260 goals the Argentine scored for City, a record that broke Brooks’ 78-year spell in 2017. In total, he won 15 trophies, including five league titles.
If ‘Kun’ Aguero was the ultimate assassin, then David Silva provided the ammunition. The Spaniard dispelled the theory that you had to be a physically imposing player to succeed in English football.
The slight Silva, nicknamed ‘Merlin’ by his teammates for his magic with the ball, helped Pep Guardiola copy Barcelona’s tiki-taka style and make it successful in England.
In 2018, they won the title with an unprecedented 100 points, winning 32 of the 38 matches with Silva as conductor.
It was Guardiola’s first of six Premier League victories, all involving goalkeepers Ederson and Kevin De Bruyne.
David Silva was a magician and got the team going during his sensational time at City
Kevin de Bruyne is arguably the best midfielder of the last decade in the Premier League
De Bruyne is regarded as one of the best – if not the greatest – the Premier League has ever seen. Some of the passes he sees and delivers defy the laws of geometry and his record of 112 assists is only comparable to Ryan Giggs, who spent two decades in the division.
“The presence, the consistency, the numbers are amazing,” admitted a grateful Guardiola.
By signing Ederson in 2017, Guardiola’s City could play the way he wanted. As well as being brave and dynamic, the Brazilian has the best pair of feet ever seen in a goalkeeper and can dictate play from behind the posts.
He’s also good at his day job: his instinctive save from Inter’s Robin Gosens in injury time was as vital to City’s 2023 Champions League final triumph as Rodri’s goal.
To select your best Manchester City player, click the vote button or email greatest@dailymail.co.uk if you want to choose someone not on the shortlist.
Before the start of the 2024/25 season, we will reveal the results of the greatest player of all time from all 20 Premier League clubs.