The centre-back has had a chequered career at City since joining them from Everton in 2000.

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Over the years, Sanjay Dutt has had a chequered career with a mixed bag of films, mostly revelling in the role of a macho, gangland don, sometimes with a soft heart.

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And while the 70-year-old has said that he would ideally like to end his long and chequered career by leading the "boys in green" to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he may yet decide that a more immediate challenge with the other men in green may be an opportunity worth grasping now.

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