City vs Inter: Thirteen players who appeared for both clubs

Photo: danheap77 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Manchester City face Inter Milan in Hong Kong on Saturday 1 August at 12:30 (UK), the opening fixture of their three-game Asia Tour. The match is the first competitive outing under new manager Enzo Maresca.

Ahead of the encounter, thirteen players can be identified who have represented both clubs at senior level.

Ousmane Dabo joined City from Lazio in 2006 after earning three France caps. He made 18 appearances for the Blues before returning to Lazio, his time hampered by a red card and injuries.

Bernardo Corradi spent just four minutes on the pitch for Inter — as a substitute in a Champions League third-round second leg against Sporting — before finding form at Lazio, Valencia and with the Italian national team. At City he scored three goals in 28 appearances between 2006 and 2008.

Chilean midfielder David Pizarro had brief stints at both clubs. Roberto Mancini managed him at Inter and later brought him to City on loan for the second half of the 2011/12 season, where he scored once in two starts — in a 4-0 Europa League win over FC Porto.

Brazilian full-back Maicon was shortlisted for the 2010 Ballon d’Or during his six years at Inter, a period in which the club won the Treble and he was named UEFA Club Defender of the Year. He joined City in 2012 and made 13 appearances before moving to Roma.

Mario Balotelli came through Inter’s academy and helped the club win three Serie A titles and the Champions League before Mancini brought him to the Etihad in 2010. He is remembered for his assist on Sergio Aguero’s title-winning goal in 2012.

Ecuadorian forward Felipe Caicedo joined City as a teenager from FC Basel and scored eight goals in 35 appearances, including in a UEFA Cup quarter-final second leg against Hamburg. He later had a brief loan spell at Inter in 2021/22, featuring for just 21 minutes across three substitute appearances.

Serbian left-back Aleksandar Kolarov spent seven seasons at City, accumulating 247 appearances, 21 goals, two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and two League Cups. Inter were his final club before retirement; he now works as assistant to Cristian Chivu.

Edin Dzeko scored 72 goals in 189 appearances for City across five seasons, winning two Premier League titles among five trophies. Now 40, he represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at the most recent World Cup before finishing his club career at Inter between 2021 and 2023.

Stevan Jovetic moved from City to Inter initially on loan before spending two full years at the San Siro. Injuries and inconsistent form limited his impact at City, though he did win a Premier League title and League Cup during his time at the Etihad.

Mateo Kovacic spent three seasons at Inter after signing from Dinamo Zagreb before successful spells at Real Madrid and Chelsea. He joined City in 2023 and won the Premier League title in his first season, though injury disrupted his 2025/26 campaign.

João Cancelo was on loan at Inter from Valencia for the 2017/18 season. After a year at Juventus he moved to City, where he won three Premier League titles in 154 appearances across three-and-a-half seasons.

Manuel Akanji joined City late in the 2022 summer transfer window and won six trophies, including the Premier League, Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup. He moved to Inter in 2025.

Patrick Vieira spent four seasons at Inter, winning three Serie A titles, before joining City in 2010. His final career appearance was in City’s 2011 FA Cup final victory over Stoke City.

The Asia Tour continues with a fixture against a K League All Stars side in South Korea on Wednesday 5 August and a match against Atletico Madrid on Sunday 9 August. All three games are available live on CITY+.