Warrior, legend and a true gent!

BADGE-KISSING has become a bit of a joke in today’s world of finance-driven, fly-by-night football.

Mercenary players who would move club at the drop of an aitch will spend five minutes at a club and declare their undying allegiance by thrusting the club crest mouthwards after scoring a goal.

Fans see right through such nonsense.

But when Pablo Zabaleta raced towards the wild throng of travelling Blues in the Olympic Stadium in Rome in 2014, it was different.

Zabaleta had just scored the late goal that ensured City had reached the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time, and his face was etched with the passion of the moment.

Those City fans knew this was not a footballer soaking up the adulation or bigging himself up – his celebration was for the club, and for those fans who had spent so much time and money to be there and witness the moment.

And it was a snapshot of why Zabaleta is, and will remain, so special to City and their fans, long after he has left the club this summer.

Superstar names have come and gone in the last nine years, yet Blues fans took a sturdy, committed right-back to their hearts much more than any Carlos Tevez or Robinho.

And that is because Zaba cared, and will continue to care, in the way the fans care.

It has been written on every performance he has put in for City, often in blood and bruises. But Zabaleta’s love of, and respect for, the club was just as evident when he stepped off the pitch.

Some footballers will speak to the media when they have scored a great goal, or taken part in a glorious victory.

But it is those who stand up and speak when the team has nose-dived, when they have let the fans down, when they have been humiliated, who are true club men.

No hiding from them, no shying away from explaining themselves and their team’s failings from the supporters who have been let down.

Zabaleta always stood up to be counted, partly because he felt it important to relate to the fans through the media, and partly because he is simply a nice guy.

The times he has stood in a mixed zone, fielding questions about Argentina team-mates Tevez, Sergio Aguero or Lionel Messi have been many.

Some players would be irritated, and see it as an affront to their ego to be constantly asked about a team-mate who just happens to be from the same country and has superstar status.

But Zabaleta always answers the questions with respect and without a shred of ego – the ultimate team man, on and off the pitch.

When his dad had a terrible road accident a few years back, I tweeted a message to Zabaleta, expressing heart-felt hopes that everything would be OK as he flew home to Argentina to be at his bedside.

A couple of weeks later, with his dad fortunately on the mend, Zaba was driving into the old Carrington training ground when he spotted me lurking near the media centre.

He reversed his car 50 yards down the road just to thank me for my wishes.

A tiny thing, a needless show of appreciation, but a small glimpse of the man’s soul.

Another time a taxi driver told me how Zaba had visited his very sick, and City-mad grandson to cheer him up as he lay ill.

Lots of footballers do that, of course. But months later, the same kiddie was on a London train, on which happened to be the City squad. Zaba recognised the nipper, greeted him like an old friend and insisted on taking him to meet the rest of the team. Little things, but things that mean a lot.

The quality of his football, and the depths of his commitment have marked him out as a Blue great. But it is his humanity, and character, which make him a true legend.