Bananas are back in fashion, and Imre Varadi is a man in demand. 'The phone is ringing off the hook,' he explains and right on cue his device pings and lights up with another message.

This time it is a request for him to appear on a radio show coming his way via former team-mate Lee Chapman.

They, like the rest of us, want to know how at the age of 67, and 40 years after he first played up front for Manchester City, his cult status has been revitalised by giant inflatable bananas.

It is a twist of fate not only good for Varadi’s ego but good for his business as two years ago he acted upon the random fact that City supporters came to affectionately refer to him as Imre Banana back in the day by trademarking the name.

Call it a striker’s instinct. Or business acumen after 25 years working as an agent. He saw the opening and made his move.

Now he produces branded inflatable bananas, T-shirts and pin badges.

He sells them around the world and has a partnership with Manchester City, who are understood to be planning to order another 30,000 bananas.

City fans are embracing bananas all over again as a symbol of solidarity in the wake of criticism after the club was found guilty of breaking the Premier League’s financial rules.

'I think it’s their way of saying that whatever happens we’ll be behind the team and the club, and we’ll still be having fun,' says Varadi. 'We’ve had bad times. We’ve been in the second and third divisions and never forget the history, but we love the club and we’ll always stick with them and support them.

'It is great fun and it has helped to galvanise everybody. The sea of bananas in the away end at Anfield was great to see and to be at the Etihad on Saturday [against Ipswich] and see all the Mums and Dads and kids carrying them to the game was incredible.

'I’m so honoured and proud to be such a part of it. I don’t think many of them know I was ever a footballer.'

Varadi was born in London with an Italian mother and a Hungarian father and came through the youth ranks at Luton Town.

'They released me and Kerry Dixon, and we both cried our eyes out,' he says. 'But you dust yourself down and get on with it. Kerry ended up playing at Dunstable and I went to Letchworth.

'After a year, Harry Haslam rang me and told me to come to Sheffield United, so I went up there played in a reserve game and scored a hat trick, played in another reserve game and scored again.

'He gave me a two-and-a-half-year professional contract and I never looked back. Kerry as we all know went to Reading, Chelsea and played for England and had a fantastic career.'

Varadi did not stay anywhere for too long. He left Bramall Lane for Everton and scoring the winner in an FA Cup tie against Liverpool at Goodison Park remains one of his fondest memories.

'Everton hadn’t beaten Liverpool in years, and I lost it when I scored, running round the back of the goal to celebrate with the supporters. Within three or four seconds I realised these were the wrong supporters.

'It was the Liverpool supporters, and someone threw a meat and potato pie and hit me right in the middle of my face. I can still taste it today. I’ll never forget it.'

At Newcastle he wore the famous No9 shirt, scored goals at a rate close to one-in-two and spent a season playing alongside Kevin Keegan.

In the first of his two spells at Sheffield Wednesday, he won promotion to the top-flight before a season at West Bromwich Albion and the move to City in 1986.

He finished the season as City’s top scorer but could not do enough to stop them sliding back into the second tier. As the next season got under way at home against Plymouth Argyle, there was a supporter called Frank Newton who took an inflatable banana with him to Maine Road, basically for a laugh.

'I remember jogging out on the game and seeing a banana,' says Varadi. 'That was strange enough and then one banana became two or three and then eight or nine and then it went whoosh.' Fans started singing Imre Banana instead of Imre Varadi and the craze spread across the country.

'West Ham had inflatable hammers, Norwich had canaries, Grimsby had the fish, but we started it,' says Varadi. 'People have called me Imre Banana from there.'

He scored 31 in 81 games for City before returning to Wednesday in September 1988. There were then three years at Leeds, again with Chapman, but mainly as back up. He did not make enough appearances for a title winners’ medal in 1992.

There was a brief return to Luton, six games on loan, and two successful years at Rotherham among other ports of call before ending his career in non-league, coaching at Matlock Town and Stalybridge Celtic before taking his qualifications to become an agent.

'I just sort of fell into it,' he says. 'I always thought I’d go into coaching but because I had a lot of clubs, I had a lot of contacts and knew a hell of a lot of people. The opportunity came to go into an agency, so I took my exam and I’ve been a FIFA licensed agent ever since.'

For 16 years he worked at the Stellar Group agency, then struck out alone with a small group of clients. 'I’ll always do that,' he says. 'I love working, I work every day. I love interacting with players, speaking to clubs and watching games.'

Varadi was at home on his sofa recovering from a toe operation when he finally did something about an idea about the inflatable bananas.

'I’d thought about doing it years ago but never got round to it,' he says. 'And there I was, watching City winning the fourth title in a row and the bananas were coming out again to celebrate.

'I decided I’d take a closer look into the business and found inflatables were a multimillion-pound industry. I was sure there was a gap I could slide into. Some people think I’m jumping on the bandwagon but I’m the original story. I’m the original Imre Banana. That’s me.'