£57M FOR A LEFT-SIDED STOPPER? CITY SHOULD HAVE STUCK MEE! WITH

Clarets star Ben is the one who got away

IN the week they spent a record £57million on a top left-footed central defender, Manchester City will be reminded of the promising one they let go.

Ben Mee slipped through the net when he did not get the gametime he needed to progress because City were so focused on hot-housing the team in the early years of Sheikh Mansour. He went on loan to Leicester after one League Cup appearance for City under Roberto Mancini in 2010 before finding a home at Burnley seven years ago.

He and Burnley have grown together and this lunchtime he will skipper the Clarets against his former club in his 90th Premier League appearance.

The boyhood Blue (left, in action for the club in 2009) got over any disappointment he felt at leaving City long ago and feels their young players may have to follow his route to succeed.

“At that time at City, a lot of success was needed,” he said. “The pressure was on the manager and if things hadn’t gone his way in the pressured environment City was then, he wouldn’t have been around long.

“So to put a young lad in at centre-half would have been a big ask. I enjoyed going and playing first-team football, rather than being around the team and not getting in.

“The young lads today need to get up to that standard quicker than ever because the desire to succeed is bigger than ever, especially at a club like that. It’s tough for them, but that’s the way it is. It looks like a lot of players are going to have to get experience elsewhere and then come back in and try and crack it.”

Mee, 28, feels Aymeric Laporte’s record transfer is a sign of the times.

“That’s the game, isn’t it?” he said. “You can’t blame a side going for four trophies for spending that money because that’s the going rate.”

While City discarded Mee, he is treasured at Burnley where he has been key to them enjoying their best campaign for 44 years. He has grown this season since assuming the captaincy from the injured Tom Heaton and England boss Gareth Southgate could do worse than consider this natural leader and consummate professional.

Any manager would want him in his dressing room and he arrived early for our interview before training, even though he only got to bed in the wee small hours after returning from Newcastle.

“It’s a shame Tom’s been injured, but I’ve had a bit more responsibility and I’ve liked it,” said Mee. “It’s always

been my ambition to play for my country and I think I’ve been consistent for a couple of years now.

“I also want to play well for my club and enjoy my club career. If I’m doing that and I get noticed along the way, fantastic.”

Mee is an unsung hero who deserves to have his praises sung and the pundits have been quicker to compliment his defensive partner James Tarkowski.

“Unsung hero?” he smiled. “I don’t mind if I am. I just go out and play.”

And with that, he did.