Sun Jihai Bio Send To Friend  

Sun is a defender who first came to the attention of the English footballing public back in the summer of 1998 when he was signed, along with Fan Zhiyi, by Crystal Palace.

Palace snapped up the pair, full of eastern promise, of course, but in a season of turmoil for the club they failed to really shine. Sun played 25 games for the Eagles before being shipped back to his former club, Dalian Wanda.

The player was always determined to make a success of his time in Britain, and while Fan went north of the border to Dundee, Sun eventually opted for Manchester City and another bash at the Premiership high life.

Sun cost £2million, and he made his City debut in a 4-2 home win over Coventry City.

His season at Maine Road was then cut short by international duty as he joined up with China as they prepared for their first ever World Cup finals. They would lose every game... without scoring a goal.

Back with City in the Premiership, he grew in stature to become a solid, dependable wing-back - able to get up and down the flank to good effect and put in a decent cross. He can play anywhere across the back for and also deep in midfield.

He was named player of the month for August in 2002/03, and became the first ever Chinese player to score in the Premiership when netting against Birmingham City. But his season was ended by injury in March.

The 2003/04 campaign was arguably his best ever, but was followed by a knee injury that saw him miss almost the entire 20045/5 campaign.

He returned to City's squad where his versatility made him a regular under Kevin Keegan and Stuart Pearce.