Manchester City host Crystal Palace on Wednesday as they bid to keep the Premier League title race alive in a match Scott Sinclair might have a keen eye on. The ex-Premier League star is one of 23 players to have represented both clubs, having signed for the Citizens in an £8million deal in 2012, four years after a brief loan stint with the Eagles.
However, Sinclair's career at the Etihad never got going. The 37-year-old made just 19 appearances for the club as he later hit back at those who believed his motivation behind joining the Manchester club was purely down to money.
Speaking in 2016 after signing for Celtic, Sinclair said: "It's easy for people to say, 'Oh, he went for the money, he got the contract and is not fussed about football'. But anyone who knows me knew that I wasn't happy just signing the contract then relaxing and sitting back."
"My main aim when I joined Celtic was to be happy again, to enjoy my football again, because I was going through a stage at City where I was coming home every day and I was angry. I used to get angry all the time. I was snappy."
"All my family noticed I wasn't myself, but people who look from the outside say, 'Ah, you're fine because you've had the contract', but for me football means more than just that. People will always say, 'Well why did you go to City then?'"
"But at that time it was a great opportunity and when you want to become the best you can be you want to be playing in and around the best." After being sent on two loan stints, he was eventually sold to Aston Villa in 2015.
Despite the disappointment that shrouded his brief City stint, Sinclair admitted he didn't regret the move. He added: "You have difficult times as a footballer, and that's what happened to me at City."
"It was very tough, but hopefully now it's brightening up a little bit. That's behind me and I just take it as an experience. I wouldn't say I've any regrets about joining City, because sometimes people make these moves and it works out, and that's what I was hoping. It just didn't for me."
"I can't answer the questions of what was going on behind the scenes at that time. All I know is they were interested and I made the move. On the other things, the other pressures people had, I don't know."
"I'd see Mancini and ask him all the time why I wasn't playing, but he used to say, 'It's me, not you'. He would say, 'You've been training well, it's me', but I think he had other pressures with himself."
City sit five points behind Arsenal but could cut that deficit to two points if they defeat Palace. However, a loss to Oliver Glasner's side will gift the Gunners the opportunity to win the title by beating Burnley next week.
