Manchester City v Chelsea: 11 players who have starred for both sides

Manchester City welcome Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon with 10 points separating the clubs in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola’s side are currently top of the table after 21 games, while the visitors sit second.

The fixture will be the 50th meeting between the pair since the competition was introduced in 1992, with Chelsea winning 27 clashes so far, while the Sky Blues have been victorious 15 times and honours have been even on seven occasions.

Over the years, a number of players have represented both clubs - here are 11 who donned both shades of blue during their careers.

Terry Phelan

Former Ireland international Terry Phelan plied his trade for City between 1992 and 1995, making over 100 appearances for the club, before making the move down south to Chelsea.

The left-back’s tenure in London wasn’t as memorable as that in Manchester, with minimal game-time.

David Rocastle

The late David Rocastle was part of the Sky Blues squad for the duration of the 1993-94 season. He featured 21 times for the team, scoring twice, and finished ninth in the league.

His next move, like Phelan’s, was to Chelsea, where Rocastle spent four years, making 37 appearances and being a runner- up in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1995.

He sadly passed away at the age of 33 in March 2001 after a battle with cancer. During his career he earned 14 caps for England.

Tal Ben Haim

Unlike the previous two names, former Israeli international Tal Ben Haim swapped Chelsea for City after one season with the London club.

The centre-back spent the 2007-08 campaign with the former, finishing as a runner-up in the Premier League, Champions League, League Cup and Community Shield.

After falling out with Avram Grant at Chelsea, he moved to Manchester the following season, but couldn’t establish himself as a first-team regular and was loaned out to Sunderland in the second half of the campaign, before returning to the Etihad and leaving the following summer.

Wayne Bridge

The first January signing under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour, Wayne Bridge joined the Sky Blues from Chelsea in 2009 for £10m.

His tenure in London was a successful one, winning a Premier League title, FA Cup and League Cup in six-and-a-half seasons.

He couldn’t repeat the same success at City, falling out of favour under Roberto Mancini and going out on loan three times during the Italian’s spell as manager.

George Weah

Current President of Liberia and former Chelsea and City forward, George Weah had an interesting spell for both teams.

He initially joined the London club on loan from AC Milan for the second half of the 1999-2000 campaign, where he was part of the FA Cup-winning side that year.

A move to the Sky Blues followed in the summer, but a spell in Manchester was short-lived after he fell out with manager Joe Royle due to his lack of game-time.

Scott Sinclair

Scott Sinclair spent his early career at Chelsea, making only 14 appearances in five seasons, scoring one and assisting his team-mates on three occasions.

He later found his way to the Etihad Stadium, via Swansea City, where he again failed to become a first team regular.

In the three years at City, Sinclair was loaned out for the duration of the 2013-14 season to West Bromwich Albion, and the following year, he spent the second half of the following campaign with Aston Villa, before making the move a permanent one in the summer.

Daniel Sturridge

A City academy graduate who broke into the first team at the age of 17, Daniel Sturridge was seen as a rising star in his early career.

His time in Manchester came to an end after three seasons, in which he scored six times in 32 outings, before moving to Chelsea.

Sturridge won four major honours while at the London club, including the 2012 Champions League.

Nicolas Anelka

Before the hundreds of millions being spent under Mansour’s ownership at City, the club broke their transfer record to sign Nicolas Anelka from Paris Saint-Germain in 2002 for £13m.

The Frenchman was the team’s top goalscorer in two of his three campaigns in Manchester and netted 46 goals in 103 appearances during that time.

He later joined Chelsea in 2008, via Bolton Wanderers, where his 59 goals in four years helped the club secure four major honours.

Frank Lampard

A Chelsea legend during his playing career and later their manager, Frank Lampard spent 13 seasons at Stamford Bridge, before joining City in the summer of 2014.

While at the former, he was a serial winner, collating 13 pieces of silverware - something he couldn’t achieve when manager of the side.

Lampard only spent one season in Manchester and was a first-team regular under Manuel Pellegrini, featuring 38 times in all competitions and scoring eight goals - most notably one against his former club in their 1-1 draw on 21 September 2014.

Shaun Wright-Phillips

Shaun Wright-Phillips began his career with the Sky Blues, before leaving for Chelsea and later returning to City.

In his first spell with City (1999-2005) he was part of the squad who won promotion from the second tier to the Premier League in 2002 and was named their Young Player of The Year in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 respectively, before winning their Player of the Year award the following season.

He switched the sky blue of Manchester for the royal blue of Chelsea in July 2005, completing a £21m move. His three years in the capital saw success, winning three trophies, before his return to City.

Kevin De Bruyne

Chelsea certainly missed a trick with current City star Kevin De Bruyne, playing the Belgian international nine times in two seasons.

The 30-year-old signed for his current team in 2015 from Wolfsburg and has been an instrumental figure in their success since his arrival.

De Bruyne, who is regarded as one of the world’s best midfielders, is only 15 appearances away from 300 for City and is seen as one of their greatest-ever players.