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Brace yourselves, the first Manchester derby of the season is just two days away. Come this Sunday and you could find the entire city of Manchester heading towards the Etihad stadium to see the two of the biggest clubs in England go head-to-head in the Premier League.
When these two giants meet on a cool Sunday evening this weekend, some of the biggest players in Europe will be in action against each other. Also, the rivalry between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola has added a new dimension to this clash of titans.
Presence of top quality players like Sergio Aguero, David de Gea, Paul Pogba and Co. is what makes this derby one of the most anticipated and exciting ones to watch.
Well, it might be well known that some players like Carlos Tevez and Andrew Cole played for both the clubs, it is even more surprising that some of the current players of these city rivals used to be teammates before signing for these Premier League clubs.
So, here we take a look at the players who were teammates before becoming part of the epic rivalry between Manchester City and Manchester United.
#1 Anthony Martial and Bernardo Silva
Anthony Martial, the most in-form player at Old Trafford right now and Bernardo Silva, the winger who has featured in all the Premier League matches for Manchester City so far, both played for AS Monaco as teenagers.
Silva, who came up through the famed Benfica academy joined Monaco initially on a loan deal in 2014 for one year. While Martial was already at the club, having signed for them in 2013.
Both of them formed a solid partnership up front for Monaco, with Martial tearing it up on the left flank, while Silva exploiting the space on the right.
Between them, the duo scored 18 goals, 9 each and ended up being the joint top scorers for the club in Ligue 1 in the 2014-15 season in which they also had 7 assists to their names. The club finished third and qualified for the Champions League that season.
After a great season, success followed both the players, with Martial moving to Old Trafford in 2015 and Silva following his former teammate into the Premier League, joining rivals Manchester City later.
#2 David Silva and Juan Mata
Manchester City's David Silva and Manchester United's Juan Mata developed into top midfielders together at Valencia in Spain.
While Silva was an academy product of the club, Mata joined Los Che in 2007 from Real Madrid after failing to break into the main team.
Silva and Mata were part of the intimidating trio of Valencia that won the Copa del Rey in 2008, the third player of the trio being former Barcelona striker David Villa.
The Spanish duo helped their former club achieve Champions League qualification in 2010, with both of them contributing a combined tally of 17 goals that campaign.
Both players moved to England following a debt-crisis which crippled the club, with Silva joining Manchester City and Mata joining Chelsea in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Mata then moved to Manchester United in 2014 where he was reunited with Jose Mourinho in 2016 and now faces his former teammate regularly in the Manchester Derby.
#3 Ederson and Victor Lindelof
Both Victor Lindelof and Ederson spent some time playing with the reserve team at Benfica.
The current Manchester City No.1 would quickly move into the first team, following an injury to the then Benfica goalkeeper Julio Cesar. While it wasn't until 2016 that Red Devil's Lindelof would finally establish himself in the first team.
The current Premier League rivals formed a good defensive bond and helped Benfica win the Portuguese league title in 2017 for the third time in a row.
After success in Portugal, both of them moved to England in 2017 with Ederson being brought in by Guardiola as the replacement for Claudio Bravo with a guaranteed first-team spot.
But Lindelof has struggled to cement a first-team place under Mourinho and only made his Premier League debut last October.
#2 Ander Herrera and Aymeric Laporte
Another pair of players that were signed by the Manchester clubs from La Liga, United midfielder Ander Herrera and City centre-back Aymeric Laporte used to play together at Athletic Bilbao till 2014.
While Herrera became a first-team regular immediately after a move from his youth club Real Zaragoza in 2011, Laporte only started appearing regularly for the club in 2013.
In all, they spent around two seasons together with The Lions, in which they weren't able to win any silverware with the club and Herrera was signed by Manchester United in the summer of 2014.
Meanwhile, Laporte spent another 3 seasons at the club, playing a crucial role in the club's first major trophy in 31 years by winning the Supercup de Espana in 2015 and establishing himself as one of the best young centre-backs in Europe over the time-period.
#1 David de Gea and Sergio Aguero
David de Gea and Sergio Aguero are two top players that made a name for themselves in the La Liga, which earned them a big money move to the Premier League.
The Manchester United keeper and City striker played for Atletico Madrid till 2011.
De Gea, who was a youth academy product of the club replaced veteran Sergio Asenjo as the No.1 of the club in 2009, putting up a series of brilliant performances between the sticks.
While Aguero joined the club in 2006 and became a prolific scorer for the club after the departure of Fernando Torres in 2007, scoring 100 goals across all competitions for Los Colchoneros.
Both of them played a crucial part in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup triumph, in which De Gea kept a clean sheet and Aguero scored the winning goal. They also won the 2009 Europa League with the club.
Then in 2011, both of them left the club together, with De Gea joining the Red Devils and Aguero favoring the Citizens.
To this day, they remain good friends and Aguero admitted this August in The Sun that the Spaniard is his best friend in England.
