Manchester City are strongly represented in the Premier League’s Hall of Fame and will no doubt see more inductees in the future.
The Premier League Hall of Fame was launched in 2021 to honour and celebrate the individual accomplishments of some of its greatest players and managers. Those who have catapulted it to the world’s best division.
Unsurprisingly, the Hall of Fame is dominated by the icons of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool but Manchester City have a strong presence, too.
Though the traditional big four controlled the Premier League from its inception in 1992 and through the 2000s, City have emerged as the new ruling force from 2012 onwards.
Pep Guardiola’s side became the first team in the history of English top-flight football to win the title four years in a row in 2023/24, while City have now lifted the trophy eight times.
It’s no surprise that two City legends are already in the Hall of Fame and there will surely be more added in the years to come.
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Vincent Kompany
City’s adored captain-fantastic Vincent Kompany was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022, three years after he played his final game in the division.
The legendary centre-back made 265 appearances in the Premier League, lifting the trophy as skipper on four different occasions.
Kompany had several crucial and famous highlights as he guided his side to triumph after triumph but the best of all came in his penultimate Premier League game.
With City staring down the barrel of a 0-0 draw with Leicester City and a pivotal slip which would have handed Liverpool the title, Kompany picked the ball up from distance and absolutely blasted it into the top corner.
It was a sensational goal worthy of clinching another Premier League crown and enough on its own for a place in the Hall of Fame.
Sergio Aguero
One of the few men who can say he has scored an even more important and iconic City goal than Kompany is Sergio Aguero.
Even if the Argentine striker had left the Premier League after his first season, in which he scored in the dying seconds to hand City the title in the most jaw-dropping moment in the competition’s history, he’d still be in the Hall of Fame.
As it turned out, Aguero went on to have quite a remarkable career after that seminal moment and was also inducted in 2022.
Aguero scored an incredible 184 Premier League goals in 275 appearances over his glittering decade in Manchester, making him the fifth-highest scorer in league history and the top foreign scorer after overtaking Thierry Henry.
The record is under threat by Mohamed Salah, who is just 24 away, and, should he stay at City enough, Erling Haaland is no doubt coming for top spot as well.
Yet, Aguero will always be remembered as one of the best strikers England has ever seen and is rightly honoured as such in the Hall of Fame.
Peter Schmeichel
Though famed for his tenure at Manchester United in which he won five league titles and a treble, Peter Schmeichel also had a spell at City at the end of his career in 2002-03.
The Dane made 31 appearances, with 29 of them coming in the Premier League, before hanging up his gloves and was inducted in 2022.
Frank Lampard
Unsurprisingly, Frank Lampard was an inaugural Hall of Famer in 2021 after a remarkable career which saw him bag 177 goals in the Premier League alone.
Lampard is the highest-scoring midfielder in the league’s history and places sixth in the overall rankings, with the vast majority of those strikes coming for Chelsea.
However, after leaving London for New York City in 2015, Lampard made a surprisingly quick return to England by signing on loan for City.
Though initially only for six months, Lampard wound up staying in Manchester for the whole season as he performed so well. In 38 appearances he scored eight goals, including against his former club.
Andrew Cole
Another player whose greatest contribution came at Manchester United but ended up crossing the city divide is Andrew Cole.
Often underrated, Cole sits fourth in the Premier League’s all-time scoring charts after notching 187 times during his top-flight career.
Nine of them came in his 22 appearances for City in the 2005-06 season before he departed the club after a year for Portsmouth.
Patrick Vieira
One more hero for a rival club who turned out for City late in his career was Arsenal’s beloved Patrick Vieira.
The all-action midfielder made 279 Premier League appearances for the Gunners and captained the Invincibles to an unbeaten season.
After spending five years in Italy with Juventus and Inter, the Frenchman returned to England in 2010 to see out his career with City. He lifted the FA Cup and in 28 Premier League appearances, scored three times. He was inducted in 2022.
Future Man City Hall of Famers
Though City have six former players in the Hall of Fame, only two of them really made their lasting impression at the Etihad Stadium.
Yet, with time, more City legends will surely be given the distinction. There are already 21 men in the Hall of Fame but the number of inductees was reduced to just three in 2024. A number which could vary in future years.
Only players who have retired from football are considered for nominations, which opens the door for David Silva and Yaya Toure to be inducted in 2025 after being nominated in 2024 but missing out.
Kevin De Bruyne will be a shoo-in when he hangs up his boots and Guardiola will almost certainly be as well one day.
