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20. Clive Allen
Clive Allen is one of many men to represent both Arsenal and Man City, but which team got the better out of those players? As the teams face off on Sunday we take a look at who got the better deal.
Nine years later he joined Man City, but by his standards was under-par during his two-season spell, scoring 21 goals in 68 appearances. He then returned to London with Chelsea, the latest of seven capital clubs he represented – the others being Tottenham, West Ham and Millwall.
Rating per club: Arsenal 1/10, Man City 6/10
17. Dave Bacuzzi
Islington-born defender Bacuzzi took the long route to Highbury, following Ron Greenwood - who had become assistant manager at Highbury - from Eastbourne United in 1957. He had to wait four years before his debut, though, and struggled to nail down a place in the side throughout his seven-year stay.
16. Tommy Caton
After being forced to cut short his playing career due to injury, Caton tragically passed away after suffering a heart attack at the age of 30 in 1993. Tributes were paid at both Man City and Arsenal, two of the four clubs he represented during his career.
The stylish defender started his career at Maine Road, becoming the youngest player to reach 100 top-flight games (while still in his teens). After four years he moved south to Arsenal in 1983, signed by Don Howe to partner David O'Leary at the back. Caton later lost his place in the team after the emergence of Martin Keown and Tony Adams, and was sold to Oxford in February 1987.
14. Paul Dickov
Diminutive striker Dickov was spotted by an Arsenal scout while playing for local side Livingston United in the late 1980s. He made his Gunners debut in 1990 but struggled to oust established players like Ian Wright and Alan Smith, and only played another 23 games for the Gunners before departing for second-tier City in summer 1996.
He joined them at a particularly turbulent time, even for City: in his first season he played under five different managers, and in his second they were ignominiously relegated to the third tier. The centre-forward helped City back to the top flight before joining Leicester in 2002, but he was back at Maine Road for a second spell four years later.
13. Eddie McGoldrick
McGoldrick signed for Arsenal after his Crystal Palace side were relegated from the Premier League in 1993. The midfielder helped George Graham's men to Cup Winners' Cup glory in his first season at the club, but he fell out of favour the following year and was eventually loaned to City in 1996.
12. David Rocastle
Rocastle first joined Arsenal shortly after his 15th birthday in 1982, beginning a decade-long spell with the club. Nicknamed "Rocky", the midfielder appeared in 277 matches for the Gunners, winning two First Division titles and a League Cup before joining Leeds in 1992.
Rocastle was on the move again after just one season in Yorkshire, signing for City in summer 1993; he also lasted only one campaign at Maine Road, moving back to London with Chelsea 12 months later. In 2001, "Rocky" died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,
aged just 33.
10. Dave Halliday
Pictured on the far right of this picture taken in his Arsenal days, Halliday played 15 games for the Gunners in the 1929/30 season. Despite scoring eight goals during that time, the north Londoners sanctioned his sale to City at the end of the campaign, with the Scottish forward going on to spend three years in Manchester.
9. Niall Quinn
As a teenager in Dublin, Quinn had his pick of sports: he played Gaelic football and hurling to a high level, and was even offered a contract to play Aussie rules, but fancied being a footballer. Having failed a trial at Fulham, he was snapped up by Arsenal in 1983 and made his debut two years later, scoring in a 2-0 win against Liverpool, but found it difficult to get regular game time at Highbury - with the exception of the 1986/87 campaign, when he played 48 times.
City snapped up Quinn in 1989, the striker going on to score 78 goals in 243 appearances – and even saving a penalty during one spell as an emergency goalkeeper. "I learned my trade at Arsenal [and] became a footballer at Manchester City," the Irishman wrote in his autobiography.
7. Bacary Sagna
A consistent and reliable performer throughout his seven seasons with Arsene Wenger's side, Sagna had just a single FA Cup - won in his final season - to show for his time at the Emirates.
The Frenchman, who amassed 284 appearances for the Gunners, joined City on a Bosman transfer in 2014, but his pursuit of major silverware was frustrated at the Etihad too: while Manuel Pellegrini's men claimed the League Cup in 2016, the Citizens fell short in the Premier League in each of Sagna's three campaigns.
6. Nicolas Anelka
Although he began his career at PSG in the mid-to-late 1990s, Arsenal was the club where Anelka first made a name for himself. Signed as a 17-year-old for £500,000, the Frenchman scored 28 goals in 90 games and earned himself a move to Real Madrid in 1999.
Anelka didn't last long there, though, returning to PSG and embarking on a loan stint at Liverpool before pitching up at City in 2002. The striker found the net 45 times in two and a half seasons in Manchester, before joining Fenerbahce in January 2005.
5. Patrick Vieira
An inspirational captain, influential midfielder and all-round Arsenal legend, Vieira remains one of the greatest ever Premier League signings following his £3.5m move to north London in 1996. The Frenchman was the driving force behind three title triumphs and three FA Cup successes, with his final kick in an Arsenal shirt sealing victory over Manchester United in the 2005 FA Cup final.
He returned to England with Man City in 2010, playing 46 games before calling it a day 18 months later. He was appointed the club's Football Development Executive soon after and is currently manager of sister side New York City in MLS.
4. Kolo Toure
Younger brother Yaya has been iconic in City's rise to regular trophy-gethering, but Kolo was also an integral part of a title-winning team at Arsenal in 2003/04. Toure played 326 matches for the Gunners in total, but a desire for more silverware saw him leave for Man City in 2009.
The centre-back was appointed club captain by Mark Hughes and initially retained his place in the team under Roberto Mancini, but by the time of City's title triumph in 2011/12 the Ivorian was more of a back-up option.
3. Brian Kidd
Despite returning to serve under three Manchester City managers (and counting), as a player Kidd was more heavily associated with Manchester United than their crosstown rivals, having played more than 200 times for the Red Devils and scored in the 1968 European Cup Final victory – on his 19th birthday.
2. Samir Nasri
Signed for around £12m from Marsille in 2008, Nasri immediately became a key part of the Arsenal team, playing 44 games, scoring seven goals and providing five assists in his first season at the Emirates. A broken leg halted his progress a little the following campaign, before the Frenchman hit 15 goals in all competitions in 2010/11.
That impressive haul earned Nasri a move to City, who splashed out £25m on his signature. Having controversially moved in search of silverware, the attacking midfielder got his wish by being part of the teams which won the title in 2012 and 2014, before his eventual departure from the Etihad in summer 2017.
1. Gael Clichy
Clichy is the only man to have made more than 125 appearances for each club, having played 264 games for Arsenal and already north of 200 for Man City. The Frenchman moved to England from Cannes in 2003, immediately winning the title as part of Arsene Wenger's Invincibles.
Further trophies proved elusive, though, and Clichy moved to City in search of silverware. The left-back contributed to the club's Premier League triumphs in 2012 and 2014, and also won two League Cups under Manuel Pellegrini.
