Playing for Manchester City never used to carry too much weight, as they floated around the middle of the Premier League table. A big-money takeover in 2008 quickly changed that, however, especially after the Manchester club won their first Premier League title in 2011/12.
Now arguably the best team in world football, wearing the sky blue colours of Man City increases a player’s reputation ten fold, even if they haven’t earned that boost.
With their constant success comes the spotlight on the majority of their players, and the eventual use of silverware to judge a player’s ability. And that’s where the problem can start; that problem being overrated players – some of which we’ve listed below.
With that said, we’ve ranked Manchester City’s most overrated players of the Premier League era.
10) Eric Garcia
Billed as one of the best young centre-backs that world football has to offer, Eric Garcia started life well at Manchester City, and was thrown in the deep end in the 2019/20 season, before beginning to swim.
Looking at Garcia at Barcelona now, however, it seems as though it was Pep Guardiola’s system more than anything which made him survive the deep waters of England’s top flight, as he has only been used as a rotation option, making just eight starts this season.
During his time with City, he only actually played for the club 35 times in total, which isn’t really enough for people to gain an impression of how good you are.
The jury remains out on Garcia, although he is still just 22.
9) Kyle Walker
This one’s controversial. Kyle Walker is a great right-back, that’s undebatable.
But, is he on par with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James? We don’t think so.
His end product isn’t as good, with just two assists last season, and, defensively, players break in behind him all of the time. The fact is, if it wasn’t for his incredible pace, Walker would be defensively exposed most weeks.
That’s the main reason why he has been played at centre-back by England boss Gareth Southgate, with his pace helping the Three Lions out of several sticky situations.
8) John Stones
This one will, again, divide opinions after the last two seasons.
But, John Stones always seems like a weak point in Man City’s backline. Admittedly, he has significantly improved in the last couple of years, but, prior to that, he was not the top defender that fans made him out to be. More evidence for this can be found in the fact that he has recently been in and out of the side.
Indeed, last season, he made just 12 starts for the club in the Premier League as the club won the title.
That’s only just good enough to qualify for a medal, and he’s also dropped out of the England reckoning.
7) Jack Grealish
Jack Grealish is good. But £100 million good?
We don’t think so. In his first season at The Etihad, he struggled at times, as he was forced to fit into a system instead of quite literally being the system like he was at Aston Villa. Given how much he cost City, even they would have expected a more scintillating start; for all the money spent, he only has 15 goal involvements in 63 games.
One has to say that he was a true free spirit during his time at Villa, regularly bending games to his will.
But he looks like a victim of Guardiola’s system at City, struggling to show his individuality in his starting XI.
6) Gael Clichy
Some will argue that Gael Clichy was before his time, given how popular attacking fullbacks are these days. But, many seem to forget that he wasn’t exactly solid defensively.
Yet, they weren’t talked about too much, and not enough for our liking, with City still achieving great success. As it turns out, silverware can paper over the cracks.
In his 203 games, he only actually contributed to 17 goals, which really isn’t good enough for a left-back who was hailed for his attacking talents.
A good player, yes, but not as good as he needed to be at the very top level.
5) Danilo
We’re just as confused as everyone else as to how Danilo has managed to play for Man City, Juventus, and Real Madrid throughout his career.
And, on top of that, cost a combined £101.16 million throughout his career. The Brazilian never looked sure of himself at The Etihad, and Joao Cancelo eventually proved to be a major upgrade.
He’s still playing in Italy and is also a Brazil international, although the Samba stars have struggled immensely in major competitions recently.
At City, he played 60 times, but he just wasn’t good enough.
4) Claudio Bravo
Just a bit of advice, if you’re going to show a consistent number one the door upon your arrival, then you must ensure that their replacement hits the ground running.
And, with that advice, comes the introduction of Claudio Bravo. The shot-stopper came in under Guardiola as Joe Hart’s replacement, and as a goalkeeper, who was meant to be an upgrade.
That was anything but the case, however, as Bravo quickly flopped; in 61 games played, he conceded 60 goals. That’s not great.
Now, Ederson is one of the best goalkeepers in the world; he can rightly be considered an upgrade.
3) Micah Richards
Bursting onto the scene in our list is Micah Richards.
Now, if the right-back fully lived up to his potential, then he could have been a Man City great. The fact is, he never really unlocked his best form, only showing small glimpses. And that’s not to say that he wasn’t a good fullback. Richards ticked all the boxes, but we can’t help but think that he could have done more, evidenced by the fact he won just 13 caps for England.
Indeed, he was perhaps a victim of breaking through at City at just the wrong time, around the same time period as Pablo Zabaleta emerging as one of the best right-backs in the league.
A homegrown boy, Richards is still highly thought of at City but was he good enough? We’ve got questions.
2) Nicolas Otamendi
If calamitous was a defender, then it would be Nicolas Otamendi.
The Argentine centre-back was one of the last of his kind to play in the Premier League, with overly aggressive, and low-key scary central defenders a dying breed in English football these days.
And that’s probably for the best. Otamendi is a fine example as to why that style isn’t exactly targeted by scouts anymore. It’s amazing to think he won the World Cup in the summer.
He ended his time with City with 210 appearances to his name and is now playing for Benfica in Portugal.
1) Kelechi Iheanacho
Kelechi Iheanacho is a difficult one. On the one hand, it now seems funny that he was compared to Marcus Rashford.
But, on the other hand, he has recently broken free of flop status at Leicester City, and even outscored Rashford last season.
But, he remains overrated when it comes to his time at City, as, compared to what fans were saying, he did not go onto become a world-beater at the club. In total, he scored 21 times for the club in 64 games.
Every time he goes one-on-one with a goalkeeper, fans doubt if the ball is hitting the back of the net.
So, there you have it, our list of Manchester City’s most overrated players in the Premier League era. Do you agree? Or do you think we’ve been harsh? Let us know in the comments!
As The Citizens continue their era of incredible success, the rating of those that feature at The Etihad is likely to increase even more. And, naturally, for some players, it will be an unjustifiable increase. In a way, those players will be victims of their own success as the silverware continues to roll in under Guardiola in an era that will go down in history.