Guardiola shows his ruthless side
Pep Guardiola’s determination to reshape Manchester City was laid bare in a ruthless transfer deadline day clear-out in which four players left the Etihad Stadium.
|||Pep Guardiola’s determination to reshape Manchester City was laid bare in a ruthless transfer deadline day clear-out in which four players left the Etihad Stadium.
In the space of 24 hours, Joe Hart, Samir Nasri, Eliaquim Mangala and Wilfried Bony — around £100million worth of talent — were all shipped out of the Etihad Stadium.
The experienced quartet had been deemed surplus to requirements by the Spaniard, who has overseen a rapid overhaul of the aging squad he inherited from Manuel Pellegrini.
Hart, who has made the most Premier League appearances for the club he has been with for a decade, completed a season-long loan move to Torino.
The England goalkeeper, 29, plunged from undisputed No 1 to third-choice outcast and was left on the bench for all of City’s Premier League matches this season, with Guardiola favouring understudy Willy Caballero. When the new manager swooped for Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, the Englishman’s fate was sealed.
‘Torino’s offer came at the right moment for me, in the right manner, and I’m very excited to test myself in an important and beautiful league such as Serie A,’ Hart told the Italian club’s website.
‘Everyone knows the history of goalkeepers in Italy, and I’m sure I can learn in Torino.’
Nasri, accused of being overweight and banned from training with the first team following his return to City after the summer break, was also shown the door.
The French midfielder, 29, has joined Spaniards Sevilla on another season-long deal.
Nasri, who joined City from Arsenal for £25m five years ago, came off the bench in their 3-1 victory over West Ham on Saturday but was also viewed as dispensible by Guardiola. Centre half Mangala, who arrived to much fanfare for £32m from Porto in 2014, followed Nasri to Spain, joining Sevilla’s La Liga rivals Valencia for the season.
Despite occasionally showing glimpses of why Manuel Pellegrini shelled out such a hefty sum for his services, the Frenchman also failed to cement a place at the heart of City’s defence.
Striker Bony, a £28m signing from Swansea City 18 months ago, failed to settle in Manchester. He has made the short journey to Premier League rivals Stoke City, managed by former City boss Mark Hughes.
The loans, with City paying part of each player’s salary, came at the end of a transfer window in which Guardiola spent close to £160m on eight players and injected some much-needed youth into his squad.– Daily Mail