Manchester City’s Samir Nasri says he wanted to stay at Arsenal

Philippe Coutinho and Glen Johnson of Liverpool compete with Samir Nasri of Manchester City during the Barclays Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City

Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri has stated that he left Arsenal because they took too long to offer him a new contract.

The Frenchman left north London in the summer of 2011 and joined Manchester City, who were offering a number of players a lot of money at the time. He was criticised by many for moving up north purely for more money but he has hit back.

City went onto win the Premier League in his first season at the club. He has now told the press that he chose to sign for City over Manchester United to ‘make history’.

“What happened is this: it was my best season with Arsenal [scoring 15 goals]” Nasri said.

“We were in October [2010] and the manager asked me whether I wanted to stay at Arsenal. ‘Yes I want to stay at Arsenal,’ I said.

“We wait, we wait, we wait. We arrived in June. I have only one year left on my contract.”

The 26-year-old subsequently joined City for £24 million and has become a key player in a fierce attack. He turned down moves to Man United, Juventus and Inter in favour of joining City where he wanted to make history by winning their first league title in 44 years.

“My agent told me: ‘Do you want to play in the big club, already with a big history [United], where you will just be one of them? Or play for Manchester City, who didn’t win the league for 44 years, where if you win the trophy, you can make history,’” Nasri added.

“I said, ‘Oh yeah, I want to make history.’

“In my first year, I won the league. I don’t have any regrets.”