end of the season, the club accepted but the deal was kept quiet until Bordeaux had clinched the title. Paris Saint-Germain Benarbia was named captain of the PSG side, which featured Nigerian Jay-Jay Okocha and later Nicolas Anelka. The team failed to win anything, though they did manage to qualify for the second round of the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, finishing last in their group with Deportivo de La Coruña, Galatasaray S.K. and A.C. Milan. Manchester City Benarbia left France in 2001 and was signed on a free transfer by Manchester City, whose manager Kevin Keegan was familiar with him from when he scored two goals for Monaco against Keegan's Newcastle United. He became a firm favourite amongst the supporters as City won the First Division and promotion back to the Premier League, winning the club's player of the year award and being named in the select side for the Division. He was made captain the following season, although he found the pace of the Premier League harder and was much less influential in his second season. He played his final game in a City shirt in 2003 against FC Barcelona in a game to mark the opening of the City of Manchester Stadium, before announcing his retirement. Al-Rayyan Only five days after this announcement, on 27 July 2003, Benarbia signed up to play for Al-Rayyan of Qatar. After two years with the club, he moved on to play for Nadi Qatar before announcing his retirement a year later. International career Benarbia was first approached by the Algerian Football Federation in 1986. In a rare interview with French website LeButeur published in 2009, Benarbia said that he never refused to play for Algeria. He stated that he was unhappy with the lack of professionalism within the national team and wanted the Federation to provide assurances for professional footballers' safety. During the time of Benarbia's playing career, Algeria struggled with political situations such as the 1986 oil price collapse, Black October and the Algerian Civil War. He made his début in a 2002 African Cup of Nations Group 4 qualifying game against Burkina Faso in September 2000. He represented Algeria a total of seven times, participating in; three World Cup qualifying games, two Africa Cup of Nations Cup qualifiers and two friendlies. Honours FC Martigues Division 2: 1992–93 Monaco Division 1: 1996–97 Trophée des Champions: 1997 Bordeaux Division 1: 1998–99 Paris