Manchester United news: Why Samir Nasri signed with Mancr City in 2011

Samir NasriWikimedia Commons

So now it can be told. If not for an unusual request, Samir Nasri could have joined Manchester United instead of Manchester City.

This was revealed by the midfielder himself who said that had he not been asked to go to war with Arsene Wenger, he would have been with United. Nasri joined City in 2011 for a £25million paycheck after spending three years at Arsenal.

Nasri narrated how it all happened. Apparently he and Sir Alex Fergusson met at a secret location in Paris. The place chose was well-hidden to avoid fueling rumours at that time.

It seemed that everything was fine at that point until Ferguson asked him to war with the Gunners before leaving the Emirates. Apparently that "clause" did not sit well with Nasri, leaving him thinking and eventually rescinding.

And right on cue, Robert Mancini and the City started calling almost daily even through the holidays. And apparently that was all the convincing that Nasri needed to join the club.

But Nasri did admit that he had his reservations at first, especially with regards to the evolution of Manchester City. At that time however, it was not only him that Manchester City was after. They were about to sign Sergio Aguero who along with Nasri would combine with David Silva, Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez.

Apparently, the decision to join Manchester City was the right one, seeing Nasri help the club winning the Premier League twice and the Capital One Cup just last year.

He appeared in 34 of the 38 games of City last year when they copped their second title. Nasri didn't quite reach his peak, showing regular quality. He scored five and assisted nine during his first seasonbut he failed to live up to these numbers the year after.

In 2013-14, he finished with seven goals and seven assists, but he has been unable to net during the current campaign.