The best players to have played for both Chelsea & Man City

Following their meeting in the opening weekend of the 2024/25 Premier League season, Ladbrokes looks at the best players to have played for both Man City and Chelsea.

Man City are favourites to win the Premier League for the fifth time in five years come May 2025, and they kicked off their campaign at Stamford Bridge with a 2-0 win over Chelsea side who are now managed by one of Pep Guardiola's former assistants, Enzo Marseca.

Following their big clash in the opening weekend of the Premier League season, Ladbrokes looks at the best players who have played for both Man City and Chelsea.

There are actually 17 players who have played for both Man City and Chelsea, including the likes of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Nathan Ake, Cole Palmer, Wayne Bridge, Mateo Kovacic and Willy Caballero.

However, Ladbrokes now takes you through the five best, starting with Nicolas Anelka, who also played for the likes of Real Madrid, Arsenal, PSG and Liverpool.

It's probably easier to name the top clubs that Nicolas Anelka hasn't played for than those that he has, as the Frenchman is well known for having donned the shirt of some of the best and biggest teams in world football.

Anelka started his career at PSG before moving to Real Madrid and Arsenal. In 2000 he returned to PSG, before being moved on loan to Liverpool the following year, where he caught the attention of City scouts, signing on a permanent deal in 2002.

Anelka played for City for three years until 2005, starring in 81 matches and finding the back of the net 45 times. While he didn't win any trophies during his time in Manchester, he's remember fondly for his goal scoring exploits.

Anelka then played in Turkey for two years before returning to the Premier League with Bolton, where he was incredibly impressive, scoring 61 goals in 23 games, which earned him a move to Chelsea, who were fighting with Man United for Premier League titles at the time.

Anelka shone in his five seasons at Stamford Bridge, playing 184 times and scoring 59 times, despite largely behind second-choice as a number nine behind Didier Drogba.

The Frenchman was part of the Chelsea side who came second in the 2008 Champions League, but won the Premier League in 2010 and FA Cup twice in 2009 and 2010. In terms of individual accomplishments, he also managed to win the 2008/09 Golden Boot, showing just what a lethal striker he was.

Anelka may not have won heaps of trophies whilst at City, but he certainly did in London playing for Chelsea. The Frenchman was a top top forward on his day, and is well worthy of a spot in our list of the best players to have played for both Man City and Chelsea.

The only name to feature on this list who currently plays for Chelsea is Raheem Sterling, who left Manchester for London in the summer of 2022.

The ex-Liverpool winger was one of the world's best attackers during his time under Pep Guardiola, being part of the side who won multiple Premier League titles, and being one of the main reasons for his side's success.

After leaving Liverpool, Sterling played 339 times for City in all competitions and scored 131 goals, including some incredibly important finishes which helped Guardiola's side win matches and even titles.

The signing of Erling Haaland meant Man City moved away from having goalscoring wingers to prioritising more creative players on the flanks, so Sterling was moved to Chelsea, having four Premier Leagues, one FA Cup and five Carabao Cups during his incredible fruitful spell in Manchester.

At Chelsea, things haven't been so great for Sterling, as he's 81 times and only scored 19 goals, but he's provided some much-needed experience to the Blues' young team.

Sterling is, undoubtedly, one of the key reasons why City were so successful during their dominant spell in England, so despite leaving the club and not doing much of note for Chelsea, he's still more than worthy of fourth spot on this list.

To be honest, if we were judging this list based on the player's careers solely at City and Chelsea, then George Weah wouldn't be anywhere near the top of this list.

However, what Weah did during his playing career for other clubs means that we simply cannot not have him right at the top of the list of players who played for both Man City and Chelsea during their time in the game.

Weah was at AC Milan between 1995 and 2000, where he won the Ballon d'Or once and Serie A on two occasions, but wanted to try his hand in the Premier League so joined Chelsea on loan at the beginning of the 1999/2000 season, where he scored five times in 15 games.

After that spell, Weah clearly liked England, as he left AC Milan on a permanent deal this time, joining Man City for the first half of the 2000/01 season, where he played nine times and scored four goals.

Weah didn't even last the whole season in Manchester though, leaving to play for Marseille. The striker actually retired at the end of that season, having scored over 200 goals in his 553 professional games.

Weah isn't remembered for his time in England, with his spells in Italy and France being far more fruitful, but what he was able to do during his playing career means he's got to be in with a shout of being one of the best players to have played for both City and Chelsea.

Frank Lampard is a Chelsea legend, and one of the best players to have ever played for the club. The Englishman won the Premier League three times, FA Cup three times, League Cup twice, Europa League once and even the Premier League during his spell at Stamford Bridge between 2001 and 2014.

Lampard left the club after 13 years, having scored 211 goals in his 648 games. However, his next move caught many fans off guard...

Frank joined New York City FC in the MLS after his Chelsea deal expired following the 2014 World Cup, but it was announced shortly afterwards that he'd actually be spending the first half of the 2014/15 season on loan in the Premier League, at Manchester City.

Lampard actually ended up staying at the club for the entire season, scoring eight goals in 38 games, including one against his former club Chelsea, where he refused to celebrate.

It's strange to think that Lampard actually ended his Premier League playing career at a club other than Chelsea, but what he did at Stamford Bridge during his 13-year career at the club means he cannot be anything other than one of the two best players to have played for both Chelsea and City.

Our team of football experts have decided that Kevin De Bruyne, who in the eyes of many is the best Premier League midfielder of all time, is also the best player to have played for both Man City and Chelsea.

KDB came through Genk's youth academy before playing over 100 games for the first team. He impressed scouts across Europe during his time in Belgium, earning a move to Chelsea in 2012.

The talented midfielder struggled to show what he could do and break into the first team at Stamford Bridge, playing just nine times for the club.

After a loan spell at Werder Bremen, KDB returned to the Bundesliga to play for Wolfsburg, where he really showed the world that he had all the makings of a world class midfielder.

KDB did so well in Germany that Man City brought him back to England in a deal worth over £50m, and the rest, as they say, is history...

De Bruyne has played just shy of 400 games for City, scoring over 100 goals, but it's been his overall play that make him so special. He's part of the side who have won the Premier League in six of the last seven seasons, as well as being in the team who won the Champions League in 2023.

It's safe to say that KDB is one of the best players of the 21st century, one of the best players in the history of the Premier League, and as such, the best player to have played for both Chelsea and Man City.

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