Former Romania international Alin Stoica has told the Belgian media he had a chance to sign for Manchester City earlier in his career. The 37-year-old is currently without a club after a spell with FB Gulbene.
The veteran midfielder said at the time he was out of contract, and Manchester City were interested signing him on a free transfer. However, the player believed he may have struggled to make it in the Premier League, and instead joined Club Brugge.
“I could have joined Manchester City and Inter Milan, but I didn’t know whether I could succeed there. At that time I was out of contract at Anderlecht and I wanted to stay. I wanted to extend my contract but Michel Verschueren, who just thought of money, told me I wasn’t good enough,” said the Manchester City target.
Stocia spent six seasons at Anderlecht making over 100 league appearance for the Belgian side. In 2002 he joined Jupiler rivals Brugge despite the interest from Manchester City and Inter Milan.
The player would go on to play for a number of clubs after leaving Brugge in 2004.
