Scott Sinclair, an English-born forward primarily playing as a left winger, graces Bristol Rovers nowadays with his nimble number 7 jerseyed presence. The chap, born on 25 March 1989, standing at a rather middling 5ft 9in (1.77m) and tipping the scales at 11st (70kg), has quite the knack for swapping teams, but we canโt all be one-club men, can we?
His delightful football odyssey began in the glamorous surroundings of Bristol Rovers' home turf back in December 2004, when the lad was just entering his teenage years. Depressingly, he only managed two appearances in his debut season but improved this with a smashing five-goal haul from 20 appearances in the 2022-23 season.
In June 2005, Sinclair found himself sold to Chelsea for a breathtaking £200k. A fitting epitome of football's excess, if you ask me. Alas, over three seasons, he featured just five times - a small investment indeed for such a stellar club.
What followed was a merry-go-round of short-term homes. His first loan spell was with Plymouth Argyle where he graced the pitch 15 times and scored two goals. Next came loans to QPR, Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace, before finishing his series of loan stints at Wigan Athletic after a brief stay at Birmingham City in between.
The regular paychecks from Chelsea finally ceased when Swansea City welcomed him with open arms and a cheque for £1.5m in August 2010. Over three seasons, he made a respectable 82 appearances and netted a not-so-shabby 28 goals.
Then in August 2012, Manchester City snapped him up for a ludicrous £6.2m, barely getting their money's worth with a meagre 13 appearances over three seasons, excluding a season-long loan stint at West Brom.
Eventually, Sinclair found himself in sunny Birmingham with Aston Villa, initially on loan and later permanently for an eye-popping £2.5m. Across two seasons, he featured 36 times and found the back of the net three times.
In August 2016, Celtic took a punt on him for £3.5m where he seemed to rediscover his form. During his four-season sojourn in Scotland, he appeared 105 times, bagging an impressive 40 goals.
Then in a rather unforeseen move, our remarkably transient forward found himself at Preston North End (for an undisclosed fee, predictably) for a couple of seasons before he returned to his beginnings at Bristol Rovers in October 2022. His goal-scoring has continued with seven goals from 29 appearances so far.
So there you have it, the wandering tale of Scott Sinclair, a footballing man of many clubs and, presumably, a closet full of varied shirts.
