Neil Lennon

The Northern Irishman will go down as one of the best players in City’s early ventures into the Premier League and he came at a price of just £750,000 when Martin O’Neill spotted his talents as a youngster at Crewe.

The midfielder went on to win two League Cup medals with the Foxes as well as help the club to a Wembley promotion with play-off victory over Crystal Palace. Those two cup final successes came during a period that O’Neill had the Foxes settled as an established top-flight team - and Lennon was central to that.

Initially rejected as a youngster at Manchester City, Lennon had to get his break the hard way. Even when he moved down the league ladder to Crewe, a side famous for producing and helping young talent, his career was up in the air when he suffered a back injury that kept him out of the game for almost a year. It came the season after Crewe suffered relegation and things were not going well.

He refused to throw in the towel, however, and came back stronger, with his performances helping Crewe achieving promotion and in-turn catching the attention of his countryman O’Neill, who must have been grateful that Lennon turned down a move to Midlands rivals Coventry City soon before.

His City career went from strength-to-strength and it was built largely on a superb partnership with Muzzy Izzet in the middle of the park. The pair were the engine room of that successful City squad under O’Neill and it was no surprise that Celtic, his boyhood club, came calling for his services with Lennon having made over 200 appearances for the Foxes, including their ventures into European football and the UEFA Cup.

Leicester eventually had to accept a bid which saw them pocket £5 million in profits for their midfield maestro and he went on to win numerous league and cups north of the border, as well as a runners-up medal in the UEFA Cup and Champions League appearances to his name.

Moves to Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers followed in the latter stages of his playing career but on completion of his playing days he moved back to Parkhead to become part of the coaching staff with Celtic. He took the manager’s position following the departure of Tony Mowbray and helped the club to a number of SPL titles and ventures into the Champions League.