Samir Nasri has stoked the fire of hatred against him even more by claiming that he has no regrets leaving Arsenal for Man City.
He also claimed that Arsène Wenger was forced to sell him to Manchester City in the summer of 2011 by the club’s owner, Stan Kroenke. The Frenchman, who moved to City in a £24m move, also rejected Roberto Mancini’s suggestion that he has been training at only “50%” this season.
Speaking on beIN Sport, a French TV station, Nasri said: “I don’t regret leaving Arsenal. I won the league while Arsenal have difficulty finishing fourth.”
His claim that Wenger had to listen to offers for him due to pressure from Kroenke directly contradicts the Arsenal manager’s repeated stance that he is in sole control of transfers at the club and that he is not working under any financial constraints. “Wenger told me that, if Cesc [Fàbregas] left, I would stay but Kroenke wanted the money. The coach told me we’ll only take Gervinho, Cesc was already gone, I had only one year left so I decided to leave,” Nasri said. Gervinho joined the same summer in which Nasri and Fàbregas, who went to Barcelona, departed.
Nasri was an integral member of last season’s title-winning City team. This season the midfielder has been disappointing and after a rare man-of-the-match display in Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium, Mancini joked about his frustration at the 25-year-old.