Man City to unveil statue in tribute of Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee… with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak hand-picking world-renowned sculptor for project

• A new Manchester City will be unveiled by the club on Tuesday, November 28 
• World-renowned sculptor David Williams-Ellis has been carefully selected for it
• Everton players will be fed up with the owners – listen to It’s All Kicking Off 

Manchester City will unveil a new tribute celebrating club legends Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee ahead of next week’s Champions League clash with RB Leipzig. 

The legendary City triumvirate are the latest to be immortalised by the club, with statues already erected for Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva.

Now City want to pay homage to their trophy-laden years across the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

World-renowned sculptor David Williams-Ellis has been the man chosen to deliver the tribute following an exhaustive selection process led by City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

‘It is a great honour to create a work of art for Manchester City Football Club celebrating the diverse, talented players, Bell, Lee and Summerbee,’ Williams-Ellis said.

Francis Lee (left) and Mike Summerbee (right) will be honoured with a tribute by Man City

Colin Bell will also be immortalised with the permanent tribute outside the Etihad Stadium

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‘It’s been an extraordinary last two years, working on this project that celebrates these players from a great era in Manchester City’s football history.

‘I hope that the work will give a sense of history and place to the legions of fans and visitors that come to the football ground from around the world and become an enduring part of Manchester’s cultural landscape.’

The Bell, Lee and Summerbee tribute will be located on the west side outside the Etihad Stadium and will be unveiled on Tuesday morning ahead of a UEFA Champions League meeting with RB Leipzig later that day. 

Fans will then be invited to visit the permanent tribute to an extraordinary era in City’s history throughout the day. 

Designed and created at his home studio in Oxfordshire, Williams-Ellis’ work on this commission has focused on capturing the motion and characteristics of each player and embodying the spirit of their combined 30 years representing City. 

This initiative is the latest in a series of tributes to key figures as part of City’s regularly evolving legacy project.

Plans were first announced in 2019 and directed by Al Mubarak.

Williams-Ellis represents a coup for City, given his impressive CV. 

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak hand-picked a world-renowned sculptor

David Williams-Ellis is most known for his commission of the Normandy Memorial Trust’s D-Day Sculpture – which was unveiled by French President Emmanuel Macron and then-British Prime Minister Theresa May in 2019

Williams-Ellis sought out classical training in Florence where his signature style was first established.

His sculptures, worked in clay, from life, are inspired by the romanticism of French sculptors Auguste Rodin and Antoine Bourdelle and are noted for their sense of movement and vitality.

With exhibitions proudly displayed at Perthshire’s Scone Palace, Aberdeen’s Maritime Museum and the IFC Building in Shanghai, Williams-Ellis is perhaps most famously known for his commission of the Normandy Memorial Trust’s D-Day Sculpture. That monument was unveiled by French President Emmanuel Macron and then-British Prime Minister Theresa May in 2019.

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