Ajax winger Carlos Forbs has insisted he didn’t need to leave Manchester City this summer, and the move to the Netherland was entirely his choice.
Forbs has been speaking to Algemeen Dagblad regarding his career to date after he joined Ajax in a €14m deal from Manchester City this summer.
He had spent the last nine years at the Etihad after joining Manchester City as a youngster from Sporting in July 2014 and working his way up the various youth ranks in the years in between.
He never made a single first team appearance for the club, though, instead spending all of his time playing for the U18s, U21s and the U19s in Europe.
That was presumably the reason behind his decision to leave for Ajax this summer, where he has immediately found himself in the first team and managed 12 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
On the face of it he looks like one of the many youngsters Manchester City have brought in then moved on for a nice profit, something they continue to do successfully to help balance the books.
Forbs, though, insists that isn’t the case and the decision to leave this summer was entirely of his own making.
“I didn’t have to leave, but in the summer, clubs came along where I knew I had more prospects,” he said.
“The media made me big, but I didn’t really feel like I was getting many opportunities in Manchester. I didn’t know if that would change this season.
“Of course, I already knew that Ajax focuses on youth. When I heard the plans, I thought okay, I want to try my luck at this club.
“A number of staff members at Manchester City also wanted to see me make the final step after ten years. Me too, at the club where I grew up, just as it was my parents’ dream. But I concluded that it was even better to take this opportunity.”
