“aguero’s goal against qpr was the best outcome: we stayed up and my friends won the league”

NEDUM ONUOHA

Coming through Manchester City’s youth system with Kasper Schmeichel, Micah Richards and Stephen Ireland, who did you have the highest hopes for?

Stevie was one of the best players a lot of us ever played with. He was a bit too skinny, so he worked on that, and technically he was amazing. After the takeover, when Robinho signed, Stevie still won player of the season. As the quality increased, he stepped up. We just wish we’d seen it over a longer period.

You represented England Under-21s, but never the senior side. How seriously did you consider playing for Nigeria instead?

I considered it more as I grew older. When I was younger, I was probably naive to focus just on club football. Nigeria did get in touch about the Africa Cup of Nations, but I wasn’t playing for City and thought that if I went off during the middle of the season, I’d get even fewer opportunities to play when I returned. I could have been on that stage, and maybe gone to a World Cup as well, but I didn’t see it that way. I’m very proud that I represented England U21s, but I was born in Nigeria to Nigerian parents, so it would have been nice.

What do you remember of Stuart Pearce sending David James up front on the final day of the season against Middlesbrough?

The change was premeditated – he had to get an outfield shirt printed for him. People sometimes criticise managers for playing the wrong formation, but they’d never chuck a goalkeeper up front! Someone needs to ask Claudio Reyna, an international midfielder, how he felt seeing Nicky Weaver come on to replace him when David was still on the pitch!

What was the 2007-08 campaign under Sven-Goran Eriksson like?

He brought a sense of hope and excitement, which coincided with Thaksin Shinawatra’s takeover. Players like Elano, Martin Petrov and Javier Garrido came in, with their best years ahead of them. We were playing much more attractive football and scoring more goals. Sven was really personable and well-liked: he thought about everyone, whether or not they were regulars in the starting XI. Although the wheels were coming off by the end, loads of people look back on that season very fondly.

When Manchester City’s current owners took over in 2008, did you have any sense of how significant that would prove to be?

When someone tells you how the future will pan