Where are they now? The last Man City XI that missed out on the top four

Manchester City have finished inside the top four in the last 14 consecutive seasons, but what happened to the last squad that didn’t qualify for the Champions League?

Back in the 2009-10 campaign, Roberto Mancini’s side finished 5th in the Premier League and missed out on the top four by three points.

We’ve found their XI from the final game of the 2009-10 season against West Ham and have checked out where all of those players are today.

GK: Marton Fulop

While Shay Given was predominantly the number-one choice during the 2009-10 campaign, Fulop was given the nod on the final day of the season.

In 2013, the Hungarian shot-stopper was diagnosed with cancer after a malignant tumour was found in his arm. His battle with cancer lasted until 2015 when he sadly passed away at the age of 32.

RB: Pablo Zabaleta

Despite going trophyless during his first two seasons with City, Zabaleta went on to have a widely successful career in Manchester where he won a total of six trophies.

After hanging up his boots, the full-back has taken up plenty of punditry roles for the BBC and ESPN, along with pursuing a career in coaching.

Since 2023, the 39-year-old has been the assistant manager of Albania where he works alongside one of his former City teammates who also featured in this game…

CB: Vincent Kompany

Of the players that featured in this XI, Kompany had by far the best career at City. He went on to captain the side to 12 trophies, including four league titles.

The 38-year-old has also enjoyed plenty of successes in his post-playing days as a coach. After making an impression at Anderlecht, he guided Burnley to promotion from the Championship at the first time of asking in 2022-23.

Then despite overseeing a relegation in the following campaign, the Belgian managed to land the Bayern Munich job where he now works today.

Under Kompany, Bayern currently sit top of the Bundesliga as they look to regain their crown from Bayer Leverkusen.

CB: Kolo Toure

After playing out his final days with Celtic, Toure called it quits on his playing career in 2017 and has since gone into management.

He built up his coaching CV, working with Brendan Rodgers at Celtic and Leicester, before he took the plunge into management himself.

In November 2022, Toure landed the Wigan Athletic job, although the less said about that, the better. The 43-year-old failed to win any of his first nine matches and was sacked just two months after his initial appointment.

He most recently worked as the assistant coach of the Saudi Arabia national team under Mancini and he’s now set to re-join City as a youth coach ahead of next season.

LB: Sylvinho (Micah Richards ’73)

This was Sylvinho’s last ever game in professional football before he decided to hang up the boots and pursue a coaching career.

Having previously had stints with Lyon and Corinthians, he’s now the Albania manager where he works alongside Zabaleta.

In terms of Richards, we’re pretty sure that you’ll already know what he’s up to these days. Arguably the busiest man in sports broadcasting, you can catch him on BBC Sport, Sky Sports and CBS Sports Golazo, to name a few.

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RM: Adam Johnson (Greg Cunningham ’89)

In March 2016, Johnson was found guilty of grooming and sexual activity with a 15-year-old and sentenced to six years in prison.

In terms of Cunningham, the Republic of Ireland international only made five appearances for City before he enjoyed a successful career in the EFL.

The full-back enjoyed his peak years playing for Bristol City, Cardiff and Preston North End where he racked up over 300 EFL appearances.

Now aged 33, the defender returned to Ireland following his release by Preston over the summer and now plays for Galway United.

CM: Nigel de Jong

After leaving City, De Jong enjoyed stints in Italy, America, Turkey, Germany and Qatar before he announced his retirement in 2020.

Since January 2023, the 40-year-old has worked as the technical director for the Netherlands Football Association.

“Working in top football requires specific knowledge and experience,” De Jong said when landing his job. “In my years as a player I gained that at various clubs at home and abroad and I can now use it.”

CM: Patrick Vieira

City fans only saw Vieira during his twilight years, but the Frenchman still had plenty of quality in his boots even during his last years as a professional.

Like many others on this list, Vieira has also pursued a career in management since hanging up his boots.

Having previously had spells with New York City FC, Nice, Crystal Palace and Strasbourg, he currently manages Genoa who sit 14th in Serie A.

READ: Where are they now? The first 10 Man City players sold by Pep Guardiola

LM: Shaun Wright-Phillips

After playing out his final years in the United States, Wright-Phillips announced his retirement in the summer of 2019 at the age of 37.

The former City winger now works as a Premier League pundit along with being an ambassador for the club.

ST: Roque Santa Cruz (Carlos Tevez ’73)

We can’t quite wrap our heads around the fact that Santa Cruz is still playing professional football today at the ripe-old age of 43.

Since 2016, he’s been playing in his native country of Paraguay and he’s even scored a couple of goals for Liberty Club this year too. Considering he started his career in 1997, it’s absolutely bonkers that he’s still going strong today.

In the case of Tevez, despite being three years younger than Santa Cruz, he’s been retired for quite some time now.

The Argentine has since gone into coaching and most recently managed Independiente, who he left earlier this year.

ST: Emmanuel Adebayor

After over two decades of scoring goals, these days the 40-year-old is focused on his foundation, the SEA (Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor) Foundation.

“It’s now I realise that helping a human being is even better than scoring a beautiful goal in the Premier League or Champions League,” Adebayor said during an interview with BBC Sport Africa.

It’s also been reported that Adebayor plans to open a university in his native country of Togo as he aims to help the next generation.