Arriving at Manchester City from Sporting Gijón’s youth academy at the age of 15, Manu García’s time at the Etihad was one of mostly reserve football and loans.
During his six year stint with the most recent Premier League champions, the now 21-year-old made just four appearances for the first-team, scoring one goal.
Year-long loads to Deportivo Alavés’ B team and Toulouse and a year and a half with NAC Breda made up the rest of his time at the club, and eventually enough was enough for a footballer who wanted to play regular first-team football.
A £3.6m move back to Sporting Gijón was organised in July, and the attacking midfielder has played seven times with the La Liga2 side since joining, scoring one goal and assisting once.
Speaking to La Voz de Asturias on Thursday, the player was asked about his transfer back to his home country and how it came about.
He said: “It was a bit crazy. Everything wasn’t clear until very late. I wanted to come back, but we didn’t know how that could be done. In the end, thanks to the club and the manager, we put a lot of effort, all of the effort, to make sure I was here”.
The newspaper then enquired about Guardiola’s decision in all this, and García was very candid about his former manager’s involvement in the process: “I had a very good conversation with him. In the end, we decided the best option, with my desire and my motivation, at this point in my career was to return home.
“We had a very good relationship, less so until this summer because that’s when we started to talk about what I should do with my future, and the truth is with me, he always had good things to say”.
