Darius Vassell, English footballer

Darius Martin Clarke Vassell (born 13 June 1980) is an English retired footballer who played as a forward for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Ankaragücü and Leicester City.

Vassell began his career at his home town club Aston Villa in the Premier League, being developed by their academy and making his first team debut in 1998. He was sold for £2m in 2005 to another Premier League club, Manchester City, staying for four seasons before being released in 2009, moving abroad to Turkey for a season to play for the Süper Lig team Ankaragücü. In October 2010 he was brought back to England by his former international manager Sven-Göran Eriksson to play for the Championship side Leicester City.

Under Eriksson with England, Vassell scored six goals from 22 international caps awarded between 2002 and 2004, including appearances at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea/Japan, and UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal.