'I WAS GIVEN THE BOOT BY MAN CITY DESPITE YEARS OF LOYALTY – I WASN’T PARTICULARLY WELCOME'

Richard Dunne has opened up about his turbulent departure from Manchester City, claiming he was effectively pushed out of the club. The former Republic of Ireland international, who played over 350 times for City, was a mainstay in the first team for nearly a decade, but his long-term future was thrown into doubt overnight when the club's takeover was finalised in 2008.

The infusion of wealth ushered in an era of high-profile transfers and increased competition for starting spots, and while Dunne initially kept his place in the side, the arrivals of Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott in 2009 confirmed his worst fears: he was no longer in the club's long-term plans.

Despite this, he pledged to stay and fight for his spot. However, the decision was ultimately taken out of his hands.

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"Obviously, you want to stay," Dunne told the Manchester Evening News, via Betway Insider. "The club went from strength to strength, so you'd love to be part of that and be part of the success that they had.

"But in football if a club wants to get rid of you, they want to get rid of you. They wanted to change direction and go somewhere else, so I wasn't one for sitting around in places that I wasn't particularly welcome."

City famously signed Robinho on transfer deadline day just a few hours after the takeover was completed. From there, mega bids for mega players went flying in left, right and centre.

The likes of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Shay Given, Gareth Barry arrived in 2009, and over the next two years City added Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero to their midst.

However, despite the relentless influx of players, the situation never descended into chaos, and Dunne insists it was clear from the start that the new owners were not only determined to succeed, but also had a clear understanding of what it would take to transform the club into a genuine European powerhouse.

"After the first transfer window, which was a case of trying to make a big statement, the owners' plan kicked in, and they became very strategic about what they were going to do, which types of players they were going to sign," the 45-year-old said.

"The club [was] going from strength to strength, and I don't think there's ever been a period where it felt disorganised. The plan has always been followed almost since day one, they took their time – it wasn't instant success – but it wasn't very long. Then, because of the organisation and how the owners ran the whole club, it's been able to be sustained."

Regrettably for Dunne, he wouldn't stick around long enough to get a proper taste of that success. In August 2009, a £5million offer came in from Aston Villa, and a transfer was eventually agreed, ending the defender's nine-year stint at the Etihad Stadium.

"I was fortunate I got a really good move to Aston Villa, and I really enjoyed my time there and City went on and did their thing so it's just part of football," he said. "Your face fits sometimes and sometimes it doesn't, and you have to move on."

Dunne, who joined City from Everton in 2000, left the Etihad Stadium with 352 appearances and seven goals for the club under his belt. He was also named City Player of the Year in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, and spent the final three years of his spell there as captain.

His stint at Villa proved fruitful too, with Dunne being selected in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season in 2009/10. He later moved to QPR before retiring in 2015, with 431 Premier League appearances to his name - a tally just 29 men have bettered.

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2025-03-25T15:34:43Z