What’s the story?
Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri, who is on loan at Sevilla has expressed his desire in playing under Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid. The Frenchman hailed his compatriot for his achievements as a manager at the Spanish capital club, which sees him sit ahead of the current top managers in terms of points achieved after 32 matches.
"[Zidane] is just extraordinary. In his first 32 games, I see that he is in front of [Pep] Guardiola, [Manuel] Pellegrini and [Jose] Mourinho in terms of points," Nasri told Onze Mondial.
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"I would [work with Zidane], that would mean playing for Real Madrid. It's rare for a very, very good player to become a great coach."
In case you didn’t know...
Nasri has made over 40 appearances for his national side from 2007 to 2014. However, he failed to make it to the France squad for either the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa or the 2014 FIFA World Cup hosted by Brazil.
Following France’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2012 quarter-final, the midfielder was involved in a “foul-mouth tirade”. This incident, coupled with other misdemeanours forced the France Football Federation to impose a three-match ban on the player.
He was omitted from Didier Deschamps from the World Cup Squad in 2014 and a month after the tournament in Brazil, Nasri announced his retirement from international football at the age of 27.
The heart of the matter
Pep Guardiola took charge at the Etihad last summer and the arrival of the Catalan manager saw him allow the former Arsenal midfielder leave City on a temporary basis. He moved to Spain after Sevilla secured his services on a season-long loan deal late in the summer transfer window.
The 29-year-old has registered two goals and an assist in 12 La Liga appearances for Sevilla. He was also included in the squad to face Real in the first leg of the Copa del Rey, which his side lost 3-0.
Sevilla will face Zidane’s side twice in less than a week and Nasri will get two more opportunities to see how good the current Real side are under the Frenchman’s guidance. He will be hoping to impress for Jorge Sampaoli’s side and seal victories in both these fixtures to catch Real’s attention.
What next?
It is unlikely that Real could make an approach for Nasri after the end of the season, especially when they have the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale to lead their attacking division.
Sportskeeda’s take
Nasri should focus on his job at Sevilla and try to rejuvenate his fading career. He should rather try and impress Guardiola so that the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager can include him in his plans at City for the next season.
