Skillful midfielder who never quite lived up to his potential. Has accrued more than £20m in transfer fees in his career
Born and bred in Hull, it was still something of a surprise when this skilful former England international (23 caps) chose to move to his boyhood heroes City on leaving Leeds United in July 2004.
A product of the now-defunct FA National School of Excellence at Lilleshall, he played under four England managers (Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle, Peter Taylor and Sven-Goran Eriksson) and was widely regarded as one of the finest English players of his generation, blessed with a shrewd footballing brain and great movement. Widely sought after as a youngster, he began his career with Tottenham before multi-million pound transfers to Middlesbrough (£5.25m), Everton (£5.75m), Liverpool (£6m) and Leeds (£2.75m) confirmed this creative midfielder’s value.