Scott Sinclair has revealed he believes a move to Liverpool rather than Manchester City in 2012 “would have been a better move” for his career. The former winger insists that the switch to Etihad ultimately failed to deliver the regular football he craved.
Sinclair, now 37, left Swansea City for the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2012 on the back of a standout season in south Wales, one that included a hat-trick in the Championship play-off final and eight Premier League goals from a wide position.
That form alerted Manchester City, freshly crowned Premier League champions under Roberto Mancini, but it also caught the attention of Liverpool.
Speaking to Seven, powered by Ladbrokes, Sinclair explained how the interest first reached him while he was on Great Britain duty at the London 2012 Olympics.
“The first time I heard about the Man City interest was when I was playing for Team GB at London 2012,” Sinclair said. “Obviously there was talk about other clubs as well, but not a lot materialised, really.
“Even Liverpool came in for me at the time, and so that was another discussion I had with my agent. Looking back, maybe that would have been a better move for me, with their wide players.”
A move that “put everything on hold”
In the end, the pull of City proved too strong to resist. “But yeah, Man City come in and I couldn’t really say no,” he said.
“Things didn’t work out as well as I’d have liked them to, because I’d have loved more of an opportunity there, but there were just so many players around the place.”
Sinclair made only a handful of appearances during his time at the club, with starts against Arsenal and Stoke City standing out as rare opportunities in a squad stacked with established internationals.
“I think I started against Arsenal and Stoke and that was it for me. I made a handful of appearances but opportunities were limited,” he admitted.
The contrast with life at Swansea, where he had been an automatic selection, was stark.
“I think that coming from Swansea, playing every single week, scoring a hat-trick in the play-off final, and then having a year in the Premier League and scoring eight from out wide before I made my move, I was in such a good place.
“And then the City move just sort of stops things, and puts everything on hold, then I’ve got to rebuild again. The first six months were great, because it was all new, and I was playing for a top team, being involved in the Champions League, but then on the other hand I wasn’t playing much, and that was frustrating.”
Sinclair allowed himself a moment of reflection on how small margins might have changed his trajectory at the club.
“You know, I think back to those Arsenal and Stoke games… say I scored in both games, then maybe things would have been different as I’d have had a bit more time in the first-team.”
