Should Manchester City really sell Samir Nasri?

By Jake Jackman

Pep Guardiola has taken on a tough job at Manchester City, as it is one of the oldest in the Premier League and needs to be refreshed this summer. He has made good signings with some talented youngsters joining the club. John Stones and Leroy Sane have joined to start the season with the squad, while Gabriel Jesus and Marlos Moreno will arrive at a later date. This shows that Guardiola wants to build for the future, but he needs to get rid of some deadwood in the squad to make room for the new signings.

According to Sky Sports, Manchester City are willing to listen to offers for Samir Nasri, and value the Frenchman at £17m. There are a host of Serie A clubs interested in him including AC Milan, Inter Milan and Roma. He has been at the Etihad Stadium since 2011 and his time at the club looks to be coming to an end. Some had thought that Guardiola might have been the right man to get the best out of Nasri, but he doesn’t look to be in the Spaniard’s plans.

He has played over 100 times for Manchester City and played a key role in their rise to the top of English football. Although he has never stood out and isn’t one of the club’s better players, he has been a good player for the club and still has the ability to perform at the top level. After returning from injury last season, he scored twice and got two assists across 12 league games. He looked good and showed that he remains able to influence matches. However, City are moving towards a new era and there are problems with Nasri that mark him as a bad character around the squad.

His attitude has always been called into question as he has been known to sulk and go missing in matches. The final straw may have been this summer, as Nasri reported back to training overweight and that instantly put him on the wrong foot under Guardiola. The former Bayern Munich manager wants to build a squad filled with the right characters and there are some at the Etihad Stadium that don’t fit into that ethos, with Nasri being one of those.

There are also doubts about where Nasri would fit in under Pep Guardiola, as he is best in a central role, but both David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne are ahead of him in that position. He can be used as a winger and has played on the left in the past. Although he can play there, he does leave the side unbalanced as he looks to come inside and Guardiola would rather play proper wingers, such as Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling.

The Frenchman has been a good player for Manchester City and has won the Premier League twice since arriving at the club. It is probably the right time for the club to move on now as they embrace a new exciting era. They need to build a young squad, full of potential, which can grow together under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola. There are exciting times on the horizon, but to properly embrace it, they must move on some of the older players who don’t fit into that. There are a lot of high earners, Nasri included, that can be sold on allowing City to recoup some money from them.

The next few weeks will be interesting for Nasri as there are clubs targeting him and a move to Serie A would suit him. The game is slower in Italy and he will get the opportunity to play a more prominent role in the attack. At City, he is a small fish in a large pond, but in Italy, he would be a key player at any of the sides linked with him. That would be positive for him, as he has struggled to dominate matches at City, as he is only a supporting player to the likes of Sergio Aguero and David Silva. Guardiola needs to rehaul the squad and make it one that can challenge the biggest sides in Europe. Samir Nasri is surplus to requirements and it’s the right move to make him available for transfer.

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