Best Manchester City Players in 2021

Manchester City’s bittersweet season of 2020/21 has ended with them winning their 7th ever Premier League title, the Carabao Cup, and reaching the final of the UEFA Champions League - despite losing it to the fellow English side Chelsea.

Although the season is generally regarded to be a successful one in the Citizens history, their defeat in the UCL final match will be remembered as a dark point in 2020/21 season in retrospect.

Man City’s prominent manager,

, has been asking the wealthy owners of the club to bring the best players in the world that are inclined with his plans, and they have done so as well.

The club’s achievements have been a result of a team performance rather than the shining of single individuals. Hence, the process of selecting the best Manchester City players in 2021 is a hard one, as a lot of them has recorded relatively similar numbers.

Best Manchester City Players in 2021:

In the following article, we try to choose the players whose roles in Manchester City’s achievements in 2021 have been more significant than the others, and have provided a brief overview of the numbers they recorded last season. Stay with us to find out about the

best Manchester City players in 2021

.

Ilkay Gundogan

• Full name: İlkay Gündoğan

• Date of birth: 24 October 1990 (age 30)

• Place of birth: Gelsenkirchen, Germany

• Height: 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)

• Position(s): Midfielder

As to everyone's surprise, a central midfielder was Manchester City's top scorer of the 2020/21 Premier League with 13 goals, while there are top – class attackers such as Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, and Ferran Torres in the squad.

Moreover, the German midfielder provided 2 assists in the Premier League to help them win the league title. He recorded the best minutes / goal ratio among Man City squad 2021 in the Premier League with 156 mins/ goal.

Furthermore, the 30 – year – old man played in 12 UEFA Champions League matches for the Citizens, and by scoring 3 goals and assisting 1 made his contribution to the club's first – ever proceeding to the final match.

He also featured in 4 FA Cup games, scored 1 goal and provided 1 assist. Overall, he played in 47 matches for Man city across all competitions, and with 17 goals and 4 assists he was unquestionably one of the

best Manchester City players in 2021

.

said that his desire for a fresh challenge was the reason he signed for Manchester City, rather than joining former coach

at Liverpool.

The midfielder played under Klopp at Borussia Dortmund, but the Germany international told reporters he was keen to have a new football experience when he moved to England in 2016, "I believe in challenges in life and I always try to challenge myself first of all.

"I feel like if I don't challenge myself and get out of my comfort zone, I'm not going to change anything and won't improve.

So I had a great four years with Jurgen and I love him as a person and a manager but I felt it was time for something else.

"I wanted to leave Dortmund in Dortmund and didn't want to think about the time that I had with him when I was joining a new club. That was a bit of the reason why I didn't want to join

."

Gundogan was Pep Guardiola's first signing at City, completing a £20 million transfer to the Etihad Stadium. "Even when it became clear that City were going to sign me, I wanted to be assured about this. I remember going to meet Pep for the first time, just before I signed, and I had this question that I wanted to ask him", Gundogan said.

"I could have asked him about tactics, or about all the times we had faced each other. I could have asked him about the great plans he had for City. But as we sat down, I just had this one question."

"I think I just blurted it out. I said, “Do you really want me?” Like really really?"

Of course I knew the answer. Why would he meet me in person if he didn’t want me? But I just wanted to know. I needed to hear him say it."

"Pep and I have been working together for five years now, and we have a very good understanding. Even when I ruptured my cruciate ligament in December 2016 and was out for eight months, he had no doubt that I would recover my best form."

Kevin De Bruyne

• Full name: Kevin De Bruyne

• Date of birth: 28 June 1991 (age 30)

• Place of birth: Drongen, Belgium

• Height: 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)

• Position(s): Midfielder

It is obvious that when Kevin De Bruyne is fit and playing, nobody else can surpass him in the numbers of assists, and that happened in 2020/21 as well: he was the squad's top assist provider with 12 assists in the Premier League- only2 assists fewer than the leading Harry Kane who had played in 10 games more than

.

Besides, the Belgian attacking midfielder scored 6 goals for the Citizens and helped them to their 7th conquest of the Premier League. In addition to his performances in the domestic league, the 30 – year – old creative player played a huge part in the club reaching the final match of 2020/21 UEFA Champions League: he featured in a total of 8 games, scored 3 goals and assisted 4 further.

In addition, he recorded the best key passes per match ratio among all PL player with 3.2, and stood 2nd in the ranking of the players with the most number of big chances created with 19 – only 1 fewer than Bruno Fernandes while De Bruyne had played in 12 fewer matches than the Portuguese man.

He has been one of the top players in ranking best Manchester City players ever since his arrival in 2015. Moreover, he stands first on the list of the

top highest paid Manchester City players

, earning a weekly wage of £385,000, which means an annual salary of £20,020,000.

The highly rated youngster joined the Club on a six-year deal in 2015 from German side

and established himself as arguably the best midfielder in the world.

Speaking in the UEFA-produced documentary, the Belgian international commented, “I think people know what I can do with the ball passing and creativity wise but, in my mindset, if I have a bad game I’ll still run the most and press the other team.”

“It sets an example for everybody else. Especially being older now and more of a leader and people looking up to me now more than before, it says: ‘if you do it, then I have to do it’. This is the way it goes in a team.”

“I think on average I do about 11 or 12 kilometers a game, I know I need to run a lot and I’ve also been pretty blessed in the sense that I’ve been able to run a lot all the time.”

“You know sometimes you get a small injury, but I know when I get one it’s mostly out of fatigue of playing a lot of games in a row and the amount of running and pressing that I do and the high intensity.”

“That happens sometimes. Sometimes I have to sacrifice myself and my body to help the team in a bad moment and that’s fine.”

“When Pep came in, he gave me the confidence to say, ‘you can be one of the best in the world’,” he added that Guardiola “gave me the confidence so in my mind it was something I had to show that trust in me, show the team.”

“From then, I feel like I progressed as a player, as a person as a leader for this club. And I think now I try to be as complete as I can on and off the pitch.”

Raheem Sterling

• Full name: Raheem Shaquille Sterling

• Date of birth: 8 December 1994 (age 26)

• Place of birth: Kingston, Jamaica

• Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)

• Position(s): Winger, attacking midfielder

Although the English winger was not as dangerous as his previous seasons, Sterling was still one of the best Manchester City players in 2021 by scoring 10 goals and providing 7 assists within 31 Premier League games.

 is among top highest paid Manchester City players.

However, the number of his 1 goal and 2 assists within 11 games during the 2020/21 Champions League cannot be defended. Sterling also played in 3 FA Cup matches (1 goal) and 2 Carabao Cup matches (2 goals).

However, he was gradually dropped out of the starting line – up as the end of the season had been approaching, and that strengthen the rumors of his departure from Etihad Stadium.

Nonetheless, he stayed at Man City, hoping to recover his form. Besides, Sterling is the 2nd player of top highest paid

players with a weekly salary of £300,000 (£15,600,000 per year).

In addition, he was one of the best players of EURO 2020 which was held in 2021 summer: he scored 3 goals, provided 1 assists, and played a vital role in England national team reaching the final match of the tournament.

In 2015, Sterling completed his move to Manchester City after a transfer saga stemming from telling Liverpool manager

he wanted to leave the club. He said the criticism he received after joining the club from Liverpool had a negative effect on his confidence.

Sterling struggled for consistency initially; however, he excelled under manager Pep Guardiola and was named as the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 2019.

Sterling shone at Euro 2020, scoring decisive goals for his country which would lead to England making their first tournament final since 1966.

"It was my two goals against

. That was the real shift, with the general public and my football for England," Sterling said.

"When I first went into the England squad, I was there with pure excitement and joy - difficult patches came about like with any profession, but it's about how you overcome those and I said every time I went there, I went with the mentality to try and do well, no matter what was going on.

"To finally see that come into play is a great feeling."

Phil Foden

• Full name: Philip Walter Foden

• Date of birth: 28 May 2000 (age 21)

• Place of birth: Stockport, England

• Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.71 m)

• Position(s): Midfielder

Pep Guardiola's favorite player had one of the most shining performances among

Man City squad 2021

members. Being only 21 years old,

appeared in 28 Premier League games for the Citizens, in which he managed to score 9 goals and provide 5 assists.

Moreover, the versatile player featured in each and every 13 games of Manchester City in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League – with 12 of them being in the starting line – up  -  and upon scoring 3 goals and assisting 3 further, Foden was one of the most pivotal reasons why Man City reached their first – ever UCL final. Furthermore, he played in 3 Carabo Cup matches (1 goal, 1 assist) and 5 FA Cup games (2 goals).

Overall, Foden featured in 49 games across all competitions in 2020/21, scored 15 goals and provided 9 assists. He recorded the second – best minutes / goal ratio in the Premier League among Man City squad 2021 by having scored a goal an average of every 179 minutes.

Foden was indubitably one of the

best Manchester City players in 2021

, and is widely regarded as one of the most promising young players in the world and is said to be going to be one of the best players in the world in near future.

Although Man City will be extending the young talent contract with a definite huge increase in his salary, he is currently one of the players with the least income in the list of top highest paid Manchester City players, earning only £12,000 a week. 

Pep Guardiola once said that finding a role for Phil Foden will never be an issue. “Phil Foden can play in five positions and in every position he will play extraordinary because he is an extraordinary player.

The midfielder was ruled out of last month’s match against Italy, which England lost on penalties, after suffering a foot injury in training.

He admitted that he broke down in tears after being told the devastating news that he would be unable to play for England in the Euro 2020 final.

“I remember speaking to the manager [Gareth Southgate] when I got injured and I just burst out crying in tears, the devastation that I got injured. I was just praying on that day that the team won, and unfortunately we didn’t.”

Riyad Mahrez

• Full name: Riyad Karim Mahrez

• Date of birth: 21 February 1991 (age 30)

• Place of birth: Sarcelles, France

• Height: 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)

• Position(s): Winger

Another play who played an important role in Man City's achievements in 2020/21 is the Algerian winger

. He took part in 27 Premier League games, scored 9 goals and provided 6 assists.

Besides, by scoring 4 goals and assisting 2, he was of a great importance in the club's proceeding to the final of UEFA Champions League. Mahrez recorded the ratio of 217 mins / goal in the Premier League, which is the 4th best one among City players after Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, and Ferran Torres.

He was undoubtedly one of the best Manchester City players in 2021 due to his pace, and his ability to create chances which helped the club on a great deal last season. Manchester City signed Riyad Mahrez from

for a club-record £60m in 2018.

“I am so pleased to joined City, a side playing great football under Pep Guardiola. Watching them from afar has been a pleasure.

Pep is committed to playing attacking football, which is perfect for me, and City's performances last season were outstanding. They're redefining the English game and I wanted to be a part of it.”

Mahrez has struggled for consistent opportunities at Manchester City so far this season, starting just once in the Premier League.

A newspaper claimed that Riyad Mahrez had told during an interview that his fellow Manchester City players do not watch other teams’ matches, "The lads at [Manchester] City don't watch other teams' matches on TV. They don't give a s*** about them."

He later rejected the claims and said that, “never said this or anything close!”

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