Alvaro Negredo left Manchester City because of Financial Fair Play, says Manuel Pellegrini

Premier League champions were forced to sell Spain star after Champions League punishment

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini (Getty Images)

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed that Alvaro Negredo's Eastlands exit was directly related to Financial Fair Play after breaching Uefa rules last season.

The Premier League champions had to reduce their Champions League squad from 25 to 21 as a sanction for announcing a loss of £149m over the previous two seasons.

Despite impressing during his debut season in English football, Negredo joined La Liga giants Valencia on a season-long loan.

The deal, which was agreed on transfer deadline day, is expected to be made permanent next summer.

City were also fined £49m by Uefa and forced to limit their net summer spending to £49m after failing to comply with the new rules last season.

Negredo, who scored 23 goals in all competitions, is one of the most notable casualties to have been sacrificed by Pellegrini.

"It all starts from the restrictions about the players," the Chilean manager said.

Alvaro Negredo settles into life back in Spain (EPA)

"The decision for Alvaro Negredo to go was for two very important reasons. The first was that we have the restriction for the number of the players we can use in the Champions League.

"We had one player more, and we could not use Alvaro, who was injured, so he was the player who was not going to be on the list.

"For him, it was very important because he wanted to go back to Spain, so I thought it was the best decision for the club."