Former Manchester City forward Nolito has told AS that he was delighted when Pep Guardiola asked him to move to the Etihad.
At the end of last season, the 37-year-old announced his retirement from professional football and has been part of the Kings League, a seven-a-side league founded by Gerard Piqué.
The newspaper wanted to know the ex-Manchester City man’s experience of playing in the Kings League and then talked about his career as a footballer.
Nolito spent the majority of his career in Spain and had only left his country for Benfica and Manchester City. He told AS how his move to the Premier League side took shape, after he took part in the 2016 European championship with Spain.
“Pep Guardiola called me, just after returning from Euro 2016, and I was delighted to go there. It was a good experience, although I played less since December,” he said.
“At the end of the season the option of Sevilla came up and we made the family decision to try it here, close to home and so on. And well, it was a wonderful experience. At City, I learnt a lot, I enjoyed a lot and I suffered a lot…”
Nolito joined the Citizens from Celta Vigo in 2016, the same summer Pep Guardiola took charge at the Etihad. He managed six goals and five assists from 30 games during the 2016/17 season.
He left Manchester City for Sevilla in 2017, and was happy to get back to Spain.
When asked if he lived in an area where Guardiola and other Manchester City players were staying, Nolito explained: “Yes, in the very centre. Manchester is not a very big city, huh. The only thing is, well, at four it’s already night!”
The Spainard also revealed his friends from Vigo had smuggled food into England when they visited him in Manchester.
“Ah, well, some sailor friends of mine from Vigo showed up… With five kilos of goose barnacles. An entire suitcase full of seafood, octopus… I don’t even know how they could get that through customs (laughs). Then David Silva came home for dinner and we ate it all. In the glory,” he added.
