Ah, Scott Sinclair. If ever there was a journeyman, it is he. Born 25 March 1989 (age 36) in the land of tea and crumpets - England. Primarily plying his trade on the left wing, he's now knocking about at Bristol Rovers - not exactly the pinnacle of footballing excellence. Standing 1.77m or, for those of us who prefer a superior measurement system, 5ft 9in, and tipping the scales at 70kg (or 11 stone if you're not a metric man), he's a wispy figure swathed in a number 7 jersey.
Sinclair's voyage in football began at Bristol Rovers back in December 2004. You've got to start somewhere, right? Just two first team appearances and off he went to Chelsea in 2005, for a princely sum of around £200k. In terms of 'career progression' he succeeded in making five appearances across three seasons for the Blues. Impressive.
Proving himself a master of avoidance (or a master of being largely irrelevant), Sinclair spent most of his time at Chelsea bouncing around on loan, turning up at Plymouth Argyle, QPR, Charlton Athletic, and Crystal Palace. 'Accruing experience' they probably called it.
Post-Chelsea, Sinclair then found himself in Swansea City in 2010 for a pretty decent £1.5m. Now, this chapter of his career actually proved to be quite successful. He even managed to score 19 goals in his debut season. Bravo, lad.
In 2012, Sinclair made the move to Manchester City (£6.2m), where, let's not dwell on it, things didn't exactly pan out. He was subsequently loaned to West Bromwich Albion, then back to Man City, and then tried his luck at Aston Villa on loan before they decided to make things official in 2015 for £2.5m.
One might think he had finally found his place in the football world but oh no, in 2016 Aston Villa unceremoniously packed him off to Celtic for £3.5m. Ah, Celtic. The green pastures of Glasgow beckoned and it seems Sinclair found some kind of solace here, managing to score a decent tally of goals across his four seasons.
But alas, his Scottish escapade came to an abrupt end in 2020 and Sinclair made the rather underwhelming move to Preston North End on 'undisclosed terms' - say no more. He scored three goals in his first season, nine in the second, and in the third - well, he just sort of existed.
Even more fascinating is his journey back to where it all started, Bristol Rovers in 2022. Sinclair's football career has come full circle and it is here, in his twilight years, that he has chosen to see out the remainder of his days on the pitch. So it goes.
Oh, and if you're the sort who cares about such things, he's played for the Great Britain national team. Wonder how many caps he has...
