After impressing for both Standard Liege and Porto, Mangala signed for the Blues as 23-year-old in August 2014.
The French centre-back made an impressive start to life at the club with a dominant debut performance against Chelsea’s Diego Costa in September 2014.
He competed with Martin Demichelis to partner captain Vincent Kompany for much of the early period of the season until the Belgian’s injuries gave Mangala and Demichelis the opportunity to play together.
The Blues didn’t retain their Premier League title, finishing second behind Chelsea, but Mangala’s form made him a regular in the France squad.
He continued to feature in Manuel Pellegrini’s side throughout the 2015/16 season and played the full 180 minutes as City beat Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-final of the Champions League.
He was again in his national squad as France made it to the final of their own European Championships this summer but wasn’t called upon from the bench throughout.
Yet to make an appearance in the 2016/17 season, Mangala will now spend the rest of the campaign at the Mestalla.
Everyone at City would like to wish Eliaquim the best of luck at Valencia!
