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Darius Vassell Bio
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Manchester City signed Vassell from Aston Villa in July 2005 for £2million.
While they may consider themselves to have gained value for money on that fee there's no doubt that the striker has never managed to rediscover the form which once made him an England regular.
Often played out wide due to his poor goalscoring form, Vassell may be one of those players whose star will be continually waning.
Vassell burst onto the scene with Villa in 1998 when scoring two injury-time goals to save Villa from elimination against Stromsgodset in the UEFA Cup.
He had become Villa's record youth-team scorer with a stunning 39 goals in a season, his speed and skill make him a tricky customer.
But it then took two-and-a-half years for the striker to score his first ever Premiership goals - a brace in a 3-0 victory at Bradford City in February 2001.
That was the beginning of a meteoric rise for the Villa star - within 12 months he would be called into the England squad. It was something of a surprise when Eriksson named him in his squad to face Holland in the Amsterdam ArenA in February 2002.
An injury to Michael Owen meant Vassell made his debut from the start - and he marked it with a fantastic volley which was past goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar before he could move. It earned England a 1-1 draw which propelled Vassell well and truly into the running for the World Cup.
Within weeks Vassell had become a certainty for the finals as his reputation grew, netting in further friendlies against Paraguay and Cameroon. His goal tally with Villa for the season was a best-ever 14 goals.
The striker started the first game of the tournament, a 1-1 draw with Sweden. But both Vassell and Owen could not be accommodated in the same side. Vassell, arguably England's best player against Sweden, was then dropped.
He would feature off the bench against Nigeria, and in the quarter-final defeat against Brazil.
Vassell's performances at club level with Villa did not match his stirring displays with England, which frustrated all at Villa Park.
He held onto his place in the England squad for Euro 2004. But he missed the decisive penalty in the shoot-out defeat to Portugal - which proved to be his last action in international football.
Vassell scored a total of 45 goals in 201 games for Villa before moving to City. He started his City career in decent form and while a regular in the side has never really excelled.
However, he will always be remember for scoring the first goal in City's 2-1 win at Old Trafford in the Manchester derby in 2007/08.