9 Best Manchester City Right-Backs Of All Time (Ranked) | OneFootball

Manchester City’s transfer business is continuing to take shape this summer with Kyle Walker set to depart the club.

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As reported by The Athletic, the 33-year-old has reached a verbal agreement with the German giants Bayern Munich as the move edges ever closer to completion. Following a historic treble-winning season, Walker would join fellow City legends Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez in leaving the club.

The right-back signed for City in 2017 and has gone on to make 254 appearances for the Premier League side in all competitions, scoring six times (via Transfermarkt). At City, Walker has established himself as one of the greatest-ever right-backs in top-flight history, adding silverware to over a decade of high-quality, consistent performances.

However, as the pacey full-back looks set to swap Manchester for Bavaria, it seems like as good a time as any to reflect on some of City’s best right-backs over the years. Here at GIVEMESPORT, we’ve sifted through hundreds of players to line up on the right-hand side of City’s defence and narrowed the list down to nine that have left their mark on the Maine Road club.

So, buckle up and enjoy the ride.

9 Bacary Sagna

While Sagna enjoyed his most successful spell in English football with Arsenal, the Frenchman still had three solid years with Man City towards the end of his career.

Having picked up an impressive 65 caps for his country, Sagna provided both stability and experience in the right-back position from 2014 to 2017. Despite not being a guaranteed starter, Sagna made 86 appearances for City, winning the League Cup in the 2015/16 campaign. Sagna was also part of the Pep Guardiola revolution at the club, playing 25 times during the Spaniard’s first season at the helm.

Following the expiry of his contract at City, Sagna continued his playing career with Benevento and Montreal Impact, before retiring in 2019.

8 Danilo

Danilo might not have spent very long at Man City, but he deserves to be included on our list after playing an important role in one of the club’s most successful ever campaigns.

Signed from Real Madrid for a reported £26.5 million fee in 2017, the Brazilian made 38 appearances in the 2017/18 campaign as City won both the Premier League and League Cup. While Danilo’s place in the team became less prominent the following season, he still provided a touch of class at right-back as City chased success across multiple fronts.

Danilo left the Maine Road club in 2019 after making 60 appearances in a successful two-year stint, winning the Premier League and League Cup twice as well as the FA Cup.

7 Micah Richards

Richards began his junior career with Oldham Athletic but joined Man City just a year later, where he enjoyed a successful 14-year stint.

Looking back on the early stages of his career, Richards has described himself as “bursting onto the scene” in the 2005/06 campaign, making 16 appearances as a fresh-faced 17-year-old.

Despite consistent struggles with injury, Richards amassed a total of 245 appearances for City, scoring nine goals and winning both the Premier League and FA Cup. The talented right-back also picked up 13 England caps and represented Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Now a popular pundit and media celebrity, Richards remains a passionate supporter of Man City, using his knowledge of the sport to analyse and debate matters alongside the likes of Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane.

6 Richard Edghill

Edghill started his career with Man City as a product of the youth system and made his debut for the first team during the 1993/1994 season.

The right-back’s development over the first few years was severely hampered by a series of serious injuries, but Edghill recovered to feature heavily for the club during the late 90s. He even captained City in the 1999/2000 campaign following an injury to team captain Andy Morrison, leading the Citizens back into the Premier League.

A terrific servant to the club, Edghill spent nine years in the first team, making a total of 207 appearances before being released in 2002.

5 Ian Brightwell

Brightwell joined Man City at the tender age of 14 and went on to make 382 appearances for the Maine Road club, establishing himself as a firm fan favourite.

He was a crucial part of the City team that won the FA Youth Cup in 1986, with the versatile defender being immediately promoted to the first team where he spent 12 years, most notably helping the club gain promotion out of the Second Division in 1989. Known as a jack-of-all-trades, Brightwell played in every single outfield position while at the club, although he was most commonly used either as a right-back or on the right side of midfield.

Following a hugely successful spell with Man City, Brightwell continued his playing career in the lower leagues with several clubs including Walsall, Stoke City and Port Vale.

4 Joao Cancelo

Widely touted as one of the world’s top full-backs during his time in Spain with Valencia and then in Italy with Inter Milan and Juventus, Cancelo was signed by City for a record transfer fee in 2019.

While Cancelo struggled for consistent minutes during his debut campaign as he battled with Walker for the starting right-back spot, the talented full-back enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2020/21. Utilised at both right-back and left-back, Cancelo’s ability to come inside and dictate play from the centre of midfield was heralded as one of the key factors in Man City regaining the Premier League.

Having established himself as one of the first names on the team sheet, Cancelo’s superb performances saw him named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year in both the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns. Despite his significant role within the squad, Cancelo was loaned out to Bayern Munich in January after it was reported by The Athletic that he had fallen out with Guardiola over a lack of playing time.

The Portuguese international has since returned to City ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, although it remains to be seen whether he has a long-term future at the club.

3 Tony Book

Despite spending the majority of his career in non-league football, Book was brought to Man City by Joe Mercer at the ripe age of 31, and it proved to be an inspired decision.

Book quickly became club captain and the right-back led his side to the First Division title in 1968, the FA Cup in 1969 and both the League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup in 1970. According to Man City’s official website, Book made 312 appearances in total for the club. However, for all the matches and accolades, his leadership and presence within the dressing room separated him from others.

After retiring with City in 1974, Book went on to hold several coaching positions with the team up until 1996. Now 88 years old, he’s still known to everyone around the club as ‘Skip’.

2 Pablo Zabaleta

Zabaleta arrived in Manchester in 2008 after City paid a modest fee of £6 million to sign him from Spanish side Espanyol.

Little was known of the Argentine when he first touched down on English shores, but Zabaleta soon established himself as a quality option at right-back. Never one to shirk a challenge and always willing to put his body on the line for the badge, Zabaleta shed blood for the club on numerous occasions and duly won the hearts of the City faithful.

The committed defender secured all of English football’s major honours while at the club, making 333 appearances and scoring 12 goals (via Transfermarkt).

that match against Queens Park Rangers in 2012, and for that reason alone, he will forever be etched into City folklore.

1 Kyle Walker

Coming in at number one is, of course, Kyle Walker. The world-class right-back has enjoyed a brilliant six-year spell at the club since moving from Tottenham Hotspur for a reported £50 million in the summer of 2017.

Already established as one of the division’s top right-backs, Walker immediately added pace and quality to the City back-line under the stewardship of Guardiola. The English international became instrumental to the style of football Guardiola wanted to implement at the club, winning the Premier League in 2017/18 with a record 100 points.

Walker has since added several pieces of silverware to his collection, including a long-awaited Champions League trophy which completed a historic treble last season.

His stellar performances in the Premier League over the past decade have led many to consider him the finest right-back to ever play in the top flight.

Whether that’s true or not, there’s no denying that Walker is undoubtedly one of the best defenders in the division’s 31-year history and a true City great.