‘Excrement in his shoe’ Man City player forced to leave dressing room barefoot after prank

 

Manchester City’s dressing right now is almost certainly ultra professional under Pep Guardiola. Pranks of the past will be long gone and the Spanish manager probably wouldn’t take kindly to Jesus Navas leaving excrement in the shoes of Claudio Bravo, for example.

It hasn’t always been so well mannered, as former player Ali Benarbia has revealed to French newspaper L’Equipe. Benarbia played for Manchester City from 2001 to 2003 and the Algerian became a crowd favourite, helping his team win promotion back to the Premier League.

It’s a period the now 48 year old remembers well and when asked who was the funniest guy he played with, the answer was Kevin Horlock.

“Defensive midfielder Kevin Horlock, at Manchester City. A Northern Irishman capable of making the worst insults. One day, he filled the shoes of an Australian player who had just arrived with excrement. He noticed it and threw them away.

“But he was not wary of putting on his socks, where Horlock had put the same garniture. We were collapsing. The guy left the training barefoot tap dancing.”

Those were the days, eh. When new Manchester City signings could be welcomed by having their feet smeared with the excrement of a teammate. Probably not the best idea to try it under Pep Guardiola.