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Bacary Sagna: Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy convinced me to come to Manchester City

French defender moved on a free from Arsenal earlier this summer

Tom Sheen
Thursday 07 August 2014 12:29 BST
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Bacary Sagna said former Arsenal team-mates Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri convinced him to join Manchester City
Bacary Sagna said former Arsenal team-mates Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri convinced him to join Manchester City

Bacary Sagna has revealed two former Arsenal team-mates helped in his recruitment to defending Premier League champions Manchester City.

The 31-year-old right-back moved from north London to Manchester earlier this summer after his contract at the Emirates had expired. His future had been the subject of intense speculation in the final months of last season, before he opted to join Manuel Pellegrini's squad.

The French defender has now spoke of how two former Arsenal players convinced him to join City.

"I did (speak to Nasri and Clichy), many times,” he told City’s official website.

"They said – because they knew I was free and they knew I wanted to move – they said to me, 'you should come, because we have a great team and we have a great mentality. The players are here to work really hard and to win trophies'.

"So I was thinking about it, so when the opportunity came I just chose the right one."

In seven years at Arsenal Sagna played almost 300 games, but only picked up one medal - the FA Cup in his final game for the club.

"I spent seven years in Arsenal and had a great time there but I wanted to start from the bottom again, to work hard again and I think I just chose the best city in England and even in Europe," he added.

Bacary Sagna won the FA Cup in his final game for Arsenal

"To me, City is a great team, and I’ll have to work really hard to get into the team and that’s what I’m looking forward to."

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