Mateo Kovacic has made the move from Chelsea to Manchester City and joins a growing list of players to have played for both clubs.
With these being two of the richest clubs in the Premier League, plenty of players have made the switch from Stamford Bridge to the Etihad Stadium or vice-versa.
Here we look at some of the best players to play for both Chelsea and Man City.
Raheem Sterling
Arguably the most high-profile player to represent both clubs is Sterling, who made the switch from City to Chelsea in the summer of 2022.
Having been signed from Liverpool in 2015, Sterling spent seven seasons at City and played a key role in a successful period for the club. The England international made 339 appearances and scored 131 goals, leaving him 11th on City’s all-time goalscorer list.
Sterling also won every domestic competition in which City played, winning 11 trophies, including four Premier League titles, before leaving in a £47.5million deal.
His first season at Chelsea was a frustrating one and he only managed 23 league starts and six goals as the Blues finished in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Frank Lampard
Lampard is a Chelsea legend but also spent one season at City at the back end of his career, although it is undoubtedly for his time in west London that he will be best remembered.
After arriving from West Ham for £11million in 2001, he became a mainstay in a team which enjoyed unprecedented success between 2005 and 2013.
He scored the winning goal at Bolton as Chelsea won the Premier League for the first time and was captain of the team that beat Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final.
His time at Chelsea included 211 goals – a club record – as the team won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups and the Europa League.
When Lampard’s time at Chelsea ended after the 2013-14 season, he spent a solitary campaign at City where he was one of the players of the season and famously scored a late equaliser against his former club, although Chelsea pipped City to the title.
Wayne Bridge
The left-back joined Chelsea two years before Lampard and also played his part in the club’s success after a £7million move from Southampton.
Having to battle with Ashley Cole for a starting place limited his appearances but Bridge was an important squad member, although his time at Chelsea is perhaps best remembered for his fall-out with team-mate John Terry.
Bridge opted for a clean start in January 2009 when he headed north to Manchester, where Mark Hughes was the City manager, in a £12million move.
Hughes was replaced by Roberto Mancini and Bridge only made 58 appearances in all competitions and had three different loan spells before leaving for Reading on a free transfer.
Nicolas Anelka
Anelka was a well-travelled striker, with Manchester City and Chelsea among the six clubs that he played for in England.
The Frenchman, who had made his name at Arsenal and impressed on loan at Liverpool despite his questionable temperament, became newly-promoted City’s record signing when Kevin Keegan signed him from PSG for £12million in 2002 when the club was still at Maine Road and a far cry from the treble winners of today.
Anelka’s time at City was a success but his desire to play in the Champions League saw him leave for Fenerbahce in 2005 but he was soon back in England with Bolton, who were in the UEFA Cup, and did enough there to earn a move to Chelsea.
He won the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2008-9 season and helped the Blues win the title the year after, while he also won two FA Cups during his time at the club.
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Ian Wright’s son began his career as a teenager at Nottingham Forest before moving to Man City’s academy and working his way through to the first team, making his debut in the League Cup in 1999.
The winger was a popular part of the team that won the Championship in 2001-2 and helped to establish City in the Premier League – being named the club’s player of the year in 2004 – before moving to Chelsea for £21million in the summer of 2005.
His time at Stamford Bridge was much less successful and he only managed four league goals in three seasons before returning to City for another three seasons.
Kevin De Bruyne
There is a long list of players who have gone on to be successful after leaving Chelsea and arguably top of the pile is De Bruyne, who has become regarded as one of the best players in the world during his time at Manchester City.
The Belgian was written off as a flop at Chelsea when his £6.7million move from Genk did not work out, with the midfielder starting just two Premier League games. Chelsea were only too happy to make a sizeable profit when he was sold to Wolfsburg in January 2014.
His form in the Bundesliga saw him return to England 18 months later when he joined City for £55million and the rest, as they say, is history.
De Bruyne has won numerous individual honours and been a key part of Pep Guardiola’s team which has won the Premier League in four of the last five seasons as well as the Champions League during last season’s historic treble-winning campaign.
Daniel Sturridge
Like the first entry on our list of players to play for Chelsea and Man City, Sturridge also spent time at Liverpool while he also represented Bolton and West Brom as did Anelka.
It was during his time at Anfield that his career peaked as his strike partnership with Luis Suarez almost saw the Reds clinch a long-awaited title, with Suarez (31 goals) and Sturridge (21) topping the goal chart.
Sturridge helped Man City win the FA Youth Cup before breaking into the first team but only started five league games before joining Chelsea in 2009 when his City contract expired.
His time with Chelsea was affected by injuries and he was an unused substitute in the 2012 Champions League final before joining Liverpool for around £12million in January 2013.
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