What? Been a fan for a long time?
I do sort of understand that it's not like signing Pogba or Eden Hazard. He was free, 29-30 odd, and seems to have been around for decades.
Plus the whole 'boring James Milner' thing, and his almost pathological lack of showiness.
Allied to that, his versatility and occasional lack of playing time at City, led many to think he's the type of player who can do a decent job in lots of positions, but is always just holding the fort until the next specialist arrives to take his place
And that's sort of true, and he probably left City because of that.
But it's always been so very obvious that he's a fabulously positive person to have in the dressing room and the pitch; selfless, trains hard, consistent, decent lad, and a far better player than he is often given credit for.
He's just always very effective.
And that's all I fucking care about. He might look as if he's lumbering around the pitch in construction boots at times, but that ignores all the times he seems to find space, create a yard, and assist or score goals.
Just a good player, who plays at a consistently high level.
We should have signed him 10 years ago