Nasri leaves City as a fool but had the talent to be the main man

Samir Nasri was brought to the Premier League during a time when Arsenal were having to shop in the transfer market just below the elite level. But in the Frenchman they had realised what the superclubs of the world hadn’t: Samir Nasri was of an elite level.

Samir Nasri, an enigma. Could have been one of the great PL players had he stayed at Arsenal. Now playing with Adebayor in turkey.

— Jöe Bargus (@Joebargus) August 21, 2017

It quickly became quite clear that Nasri had no place in the peak-banter era of Arsenal – which still seems to be rumbling on now – and along with Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor headed for the Etihad Stadium to win more than the Emirates Cup.

Nasri leaves Manchester – after completing his Football Manager move to Turkish side, Antalyaspor – with two Premier League titles and two Capital One Cups in his trophy cabinet; not too bad at all: target achieved.

But Nasri heads to Turkey with a reputation as ‘bad news’; English football fans will forever associate Nasri with *that* night on Twitter.

Nasri's drip doctor tweets were one of the funniest nights ever on Twitter

— Torrey Smith #HeATerp (@NaturallyKatz) August 21, 2017

Pep Guardiola’s side have struggled all summer to get the former Marseille playmaker off of their books – there were genuine concerns that they’d be stuck with the 30-year-old for another season, especially when Nasri ended up on Manchester City’s tour of America, much to the bewilderment of his fellow City teammates – so it explains the nominal fee of £8million paid by Antalyaspor for a high-profile footballer.

It’s a sorry end to Nasri’s time in England, and especially at the Etihad Stadium; the former French international had the technical ability to be the main man of Roberto Mancini and then Manuel Pellegrini’s sides. However, the natural talent was regularly trumped by Nasri’s continual desire to be an arrogant, petulant and irritable chump.

Those traits seem to be ingrained into Nasri’s generation of French footballers, with the likes of Hatem Ben Arfa, Franck Ribéry and Karim Benzema all being hindered by their attitude at various points in their career.