Samir Nasri has dropped a big hint that he will never play for France again. He says playing for his country makes him unhappy, writes Kaveh Solhekol.
The Manchester City midfielder was controversially left out of France’s World Cup squad by manager Didier Deschamps.
Nasri says he will make an announcement about his international future. That announcement will almost certainly mark the end of his international career.
“I’ve made the decision,” he said. “I made it a while ago but I will announce it when the time is right.
“It’s not something you can just announce on Twitter. I have to sit down and do a full interview and just say it. I will do it when the time is right.”
Nasri started playing for France seven years ago. He has 41 caps and has scored five times for his country. He was also left out of France’s 2010 World Cup squad.
“Even before the summer, during Euro 2012 I had a lot going on,” he said. “Personally, it doesn’t affect me but it affects my family. They live in France, they read the press stuff.
“I live in England so I’m fine with everything they say [in France] and I’m used to it. But for my parents it’s really hard. I want to make them happy and the national team doesn’t make me happy.”
Although Nasri is only 27, he says his decision will prolong his City career.
“With the national team I didn’t win anything,” he said. “So it’s more easy to take this decision than if we’d just won something. When you play for a big club, and you play lots of games it’s easy to come to this decision.”
Nasri will have even more competition for a place in the City midfield this season with Manuel Pellegrini confirming that Frank Lampard would be joining the club on loan until January.
“He’s a great player and any team will benefit from his experience,” Nasri said. “We’ll particularly benefit from having him in the Champions League because that’s where we need to improve this year. He’s won it and I think he can help us. It’s good that he’s an English player too because we’ve had a little problem with that.”
Source: SkySport