Gareth Barry
Gareth Barry needs no introduction to City supporters after he played an integral role in the FA Cup and Premier League title-winning successes in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Since joining Everton on loan on deadline day, the 32-year old has reminded the football-going public what a good player he is with three excellent performances to help the Toffees in their impressive unbeaten start.
Everton lie in fourth place in the Premier League ahead of their visit to the Etihad Stadium and the home side will be relieved that, due to the terms of his loan, Barry can’t line up for the visitors.
Peter Beardsley
The only man to have scored for both teams in the Merseyside derby was also on the books of both Manchester clubs at some stage in his glittering 20-year playing career.
Hexham-born playmaker Peter Beardsley undoubtedly had his most successful times on the red side of Merseyside but he impressed at Goodison Park too, with 32 goals in 95 matches.
Beardsley joined City on loan from Bolton Wanderers in 1998 and made six league appearances for the Blues before signing for Fulham.
Joe Mercer
As City manager, Joe Mercer collected four major trophies in just three years, as part of his legendary partnership with Malcolm Allison.
The First Division title, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup all arrived at Maine Road under Mercer’s tenure.
But in the years before World War II, he picked up silverware in a successful playing career with the Toffees as a left-half.
After winning the FA Cup in 1932, Mercer also claimed the First Division title in the 1938-39 season.
Joe Royle
Equally revered at both clubs is Joe Royle, a man who has played and managed at Everton and City. The Liverpool-born forward turned out more than 200 times for Everton, scoring 102 goals in an eight-year stay at Goodison Park.
In 1974 he ventured down the M62 to Manchester and scored 23 goals for City in 99 appearances. Royle spent three years each at Everton and City in a managerial capacity and he was the person to mastermind the Blues’ return to the Premier League with back-to-back promotions in 1999 and 2000.
Jo
Brazilian striker Jo (or Joao Alves de Assis Silva, to his friends), came with a hefty price tag and a big reputation when he joined the Blues from CSKA Moscow in 2008.
The lanky frontman had netted 30 goals in just 52 appearances for the Russian outfit but it’s fair to say that the Sao Paulo-born man struggled to replicate this clinical form in the English game.
After 21 appearances and a solitary goal, Jo joined Everton for the first of two loan spells in February 2009 and scored five times in 12 appearances.
This successful spell prompted David Moyes to re-sign the Brazilian on a temporary basis again the following season but he struggled to hit the heights again in his second campaign at Goodison Park.
Since joining Atletico Mineiro in 2012, he’s rediscovered his goalscoring touch and looks a shoe-in for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s World Cup squad.
Join us on Friday for five more links between City and Everton ahead of this crucial Barclays Premier League encounter.
