Former Manchester City and England player Colin Bell has died at the age of 74 - following a short illness.
Bell scored 152 goals for City and made 492 appearances in his 13-year stay with the club.
The Colin Bell Stand at the Etihad Stadium is named in his honour.
Bell's City teammate Mike Summerbee led the tributes, saying, "Colin was a lovely, humble man. He was a huge star for Manchester City but you would never have known it.
“He was quiet, unassuming and I always believe he never knew how good he actually was.
“He was just the greatest footballer we have ever had.
Remembering the King of the Kippax 👑
Immortal 💙
🔷 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/SYW8Vw09E6— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 5, 2021
“Kevin De Bruyne reminds me a lot of Colin in the way he plays and the way he is as a person.
“Colin was very close to all of us and particularly Tony Book – they used to go to the games together and I only briefly spoke with Tony this evening because it has hit him very hard, as it has all of us.
“Even though I knew he’d been poorly for a while; I wasn’t expecting to lose him – it’s a complete shock.
“He was very nice man and when you are very close to someone, you don’t have to see them every day or week or even month – there is a friendship and a bond from playing, training, and working together for so many years that will always be there.
“He was adored by the City fans and for our supporters to say he is the best they gave ever seen, you don’t get a better compliment than that, do you?
“He was very special and he will be very sadly missed.”
Another icon of that 1970's Manchester City. team, Francis Lee added, "The main thing is he was a fantastic player and a very important part of the successful team City had from the late 60s onwards.
"It was unfortunate he got injured because it curtailed his career by a good four or five years. You tend to think around 28, 29 if there is a chance you know it all, you know it then!
"He had tremendous stamina. He was a very good player technically and had the ability to score goals.
"He goes into the top five City players of all time – only in the last 10, 15 years has anyone else come along who can take that mantle."
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