Esme Morgan believes City’s 3-1 win over Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium provided the perfect stage for her final appearance in sky blue.

The defender is set to leave the Club this summer, subject to international clearance and her receiving a work permit.

In what proved to be her last outing for Gareth Taylor’s side, the England international played the closing stages of our Barclays Women’s Super League victory over our cross-city rivals in March.

On that occasion, goals from Jess Park (two) and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw sealed bragging rights in front of a bumper crowd of over 40,000.

And Morgan says she realised a childhood dream by stepping out at the Etihad against Marc Skinner’s side.

“Yeah [the Manchester derby] was one of the best days ever,” she declared.

“We had the game last year at the Etihad and I didn’t get to play and then Old Trafford this year was so much fun to be a part of and we beat them away.

“I probably knew prior to the game at the Etihad this year that I was going to be leaving and so I was so desperate to have a part in it and I realised it was 20 years on since my first game as a fan in the stands. 

“The shirt was commemorative of that [season] and I thought this is just the perfect way for me to go out and it ended up being the last time I played for City and it was so special.

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“Running onto the pitch as a sub and having everyone cheer my name it just meant the absolute world and looked up to where I used to sit on that first game because I remember it so clearly my first game as a fan. 

“I looked up there and thought ‘wow, what a journey’ kind of getting there to down here and playing in a derby and most importantly a derby win it just felt perfect.

“At that point I kind of thought I hope I don’t play for the rest of the season because that was just the perfect way for me to end.” 

Watch Morgan’s full interview in the video player above!