Joleon Lescott has already identified an early candidate for Player of the Year - and it's not one of the City stars who regularly grabs the back-page headlines.
England defender Lescott has watched in admiration as unassuming Vincent Kompany has taken command at the back to help the hard-to-beat Blues forge into second place in the Barclays Premier League.
Vinny's heroics have made him overwhelming favourite to be voted September's Etihad Player of the Month, but Lescott reckons his fellow professionals will also have him pencilled in for an accolade at this rate.
Joleon said: "We've been so tight at the back, and Vincent and Kolo are playing exceptionally well. Vinny has been the stand-out player so far this season, not just for City but in the whole Premier League.
"He's been immense in every game -
some of his performances have been
out of this world"
"Sometimes he doesn't get enough credit for what he's done in a match, he just goes about his job and makes it look so easy.
"Fans and pundits might look more towards the goalscorers, but the pros and the people who know look at players like Vince, Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry for the work they do off the ball that is vital to the team."
Lescott is one of five Blues in Fabio Capello's England squad - James Milner would have been No.6 but is suspended - to reflect City's new status, but the defender accepts that the club's success is not universally popular.
He said: "We're all dedicated, and we're also using as fuel the fact that people from outside the club don't want us to succeed - that's probably natural unless you're a City fan. You won't want us to do well at the expense of your team.
"Everyone was crying out for so long for someone to break into the top four. We're doing it, but somehow it's like 'you're doing it the wrong way'. We just have to take it with a pinch of salt and repay the people who showed faith in us."
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