Ranking every player who moved directly between Arsenal and Man City ft. Adebayor, Nasri & Jesus | OneFootball

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This weekend, Arsenal play host to Manchester City in what is already shaping up to be a key game in the title race this season. Indeed, we may only be seven matches into the new Premier League campaign, but both teams already look set to finish towards the top of the table come May.

After all, Pep Guardiola and co are heavy favourites having won the competition last term and currently sit top of the division having lost just once so far, winning all of their other six matches. The Gunners, on the other hand, are only one point behind City and are yet to lose in the league. Their record against the side from Manchester is not great, however, with Arsenal's last victory in the Premier League vs the Cityzens coming way back in 2015 – so this won't be an easy game by any means.

Beyond just that, there will also be other reasons to be this game to be quite intriguing. After all,

in the Premier League era alone, as many as 14 players have played for both teams, including Nicolas Anelka and Patrick Vieira. However, those two both played for different clubs before ending up at City. With that being the case, GIVEMESPORT has decided to just rank the nine players who moved directly between the two clubs – Niall Quinn won't be included as he moved in 1990 when England's top flight was still known as the old First Division.

9 David Seaman – Arsenal 1990-2003, Man City 2003-04 – Free transfer

With his iconic ponytail and unmissable moustache, Seaman is one of the cult goalkeeping heroes of 90s English football and enjoyed a great deal of success during his many years at Arsenal. When he left after 13 years at Highbury, the shot-stopper had three league titles and five FA Cups under his belt.

Seaman was very much near the tail end of his career when he signed for Man City as a free agent aged nearly 40 and unfortunately only managed to play 13 times for Kevin Keegan's side before he had to retire. Despite having a one-year contract, he only made it until January so it's safe to say this transfer didn't really work out.

8 Emmanuel Adebayor – Arsenal 2006-2009, Man City 2009-2012 – £25m

You can't think of Adebayor without instantly thinking of his infamous knee slide in front of the travelling away fans at the Etihad in 2009. He'd only left Arsenal two months previously in a deal worth £25m having scored 62 goals in 142 games for the Gunners.

This made him a villain for many and a hero to others but it's easy to forget that he didn't actually have much success in Manchester though. After all, despite a bright start, his form dipped sharply and so he was loaned out to Real Madrid and then to Spurs, before leaving permanently in 2012. Adebayor played just 45 games for City and never won a trophy with them, or in north London for that matter; perhaps that's karma.

7 Bacary Sagna – Arsenal 2007-2014, Man City 2014-2017 – Free transfer

Sagna's move between the clubs wasn't quite as controversial as others. This was probably partly because he wasn't a high-profile player in the way others were, though it also helps when you move on a free transfer and don't do anything Adebayor-esque to anger your old fans.

The Frenchman was an undisputed starter in north London but spent most of his three years at City sharing minutes at right-back with Pablo Zabaleta. He only ever won the League Cup with the Cityzens, joining just after their second Premier League triumph and leaving right before their next. Talk about bad timing.

6 Paul Dickov – Arsenal 1990-1996, Man City 1996-2002 – £1m

Although his name isn't quite as familiar as others on this list, Dickov had a pretty good time in Manchester after leaving London in 1996. The Scotsman came through the Arsenal academy as a youngster but failed to truly ever nail down a spot as a star player in the senior team with just 22 appearances.

He did, however, have more luck with City as he played 185 times for them during his six-year spell after arriving for around £1m. He is best remembered by fans for his goal in the 1999 play-off final to take City to penalties against Gillingham. This led to his side getting Premier League promotion a year later when they could have easily ended up playing in the English Third Division. Without Dickov's strike, who knows if Sheikh Mansour would have bought the club nine years later.

5 Kolo Touré – Arsenal 2002-2009, Man City 2009-2013 – £14m

Touré was of course part of the Invincibles and so will forever be remembered fondly by Arsenal fans, even if he did play for two of their biggest rivals in Man City and Liverpool after leaving north London in 2009. He signed joined City for just £14m as one of the club's first marquee signings and was soon named captain.

He was a key figure under Mark Huges but after Roberto Mancini took charge, the centre-back lost captaincy and became more of a bit-part player. Even so, Touré still made 14 league appearances as Manchester City won a league title for the first time in 44 years.

4 Gabriel Jesus – Man City 2017-2022, Arsenal 2022-present – £45m

Finally, we have a player who made the swap from Manchester City to Arsenal and not the other way around. Having already won the Premier League four times, Jesus joined the Gunners in the summer of 2022 for a fee in the region of £45m.

The Brazilian's arrival coincided with Mikel Arteta's squad suddenly becoming title challengers and perhaps they would have gone all the way had it not been for his injury at the 2022 World Cup which kept him sidelined for a number of months during the middle of the season. It's still too early to know how exactly the signing of Jesus will work out, but he has certainly been a key figure in the club's recent transformation. So, all in all, so far so good.

3 Oleksandr Zinchenko – Man City 2016-2022, Arsenal 2022-present – £35m

Much like Jesus, Zinchenko also tasted success at City before moving to London for a new challenge. And just like his long-term teammate, he also played a big role in helping the club step up a level or two in the last 12 months, closing the previously considerable gap on the likes of Liverpool and Man City.

Playing in his inverted left-back role, the £35m Ukrainian is absolutely pivotal to the way Arsenal now plays and does such a unique role, the team just doesn't seem to function the same when he's absent. Up to this point, you'd say Jesus and Zinchenko have essentially been equal in terms of their success as signings but the defender cost less, so looks better value for money right now, and thus ranks just higher. If the club can continue on its upward trajectory, they could both help usher in a new era of success under Arteta.

2 Gaël Clichy – Arsenal 2003-2011, Man City 2011-2017 – £7m

Clichy stepped up into the senior team on a more regular basis after Ashley Cole moved to Chelsea, and went on to play 264 times for the Gunners. Although many will associate him with the Gunners more, he only played 61 games fewer during his time at City.

He completed a move to Manchester in 2011 for around £7m and regularly performed as a reliable left-back before leaving at the end of the 2016/17 season. In that period, he helped the club win their first two Premier League titles, as well as picking up two League Cup trophies. Still, for most of the time he spent at City, he shared his minutes with fullback Aleksandar Kolarov.

1 Samir Nasri – Arsenal 2008-2011, Man City 2011-2017 – £25m

Just like Adebayor, Nasri angered many Arsenal fans when he controversially made the move to Manchester in 2011 for around £25m having just been named in the PFA Team of the Year. It could be argued that he never was quite as an impressive footballer after the move but he still enjoyed plenty of success in Manchester, acting as a creative spark within the team.

Indeed, the Frenchman played his part in the Premier League winning campaigns of both 2011/12 and 2013/14 (also winning the League Cup in 2024). After that, however, his influence on the team did slowly begin to wane. He was loaned out to Sevilla in 2016 before later leaving City with 27 goals to his name in 176 outings, while also picking up 40 assists. He tops our list as he helped the club win three major trophies with City, delivering pretty good value for money during his peak years.