The French play-maker is ahead of schedule in his bid to return to action in the spring and with Kevin De Bruyne also side-lined for up to two months, a fit-again Nasri could give City a huge boost on the season run-in.
Nasri hasn’t played for the first team since mid-October after tearing muscle away from his thigh and damaging his tendon, but has been making good progress and hopes to begin training with the senior squad in mid-March.
Nasri admits he’s kept positive throughout his lay-off and says the support he’s received from the City fans has kept him going during what has been a difficult period.
“I got a lot of nice messages from City fans on my Twitter and Instagram which I’m really appreciative of,” said Samir.
“The supporters have been fantastic towards me when I’ve gone to the games as well, they’ve been wishing me well and if we have a defeat or a draw, I get more nice words saying ‘we miss you’ and stuff like that and it makes me feel good and that I’m still wanted and that sort of thing.
“I believe in god and that everything happens for a reason and for me, a lot of things happened at the same time so I was like, ‘OK, cool. I’m not going to be depressed about it –, I’ve got an injury but these things happen so I’m going to work as hard as possible and come back as soon as I can and be there for my team-mates’. That’s how I approached this.
For the first seven weeks I saw some of the lads as I recovered but I needed to rest and spent a lot of time with my family and friends and the people close to me but since I’ve been back at the Club everything has been great
...Nasri #8...
“The only downside is, sometimes I get a little frustrated because I will hear people talking about the game we’ve just played and stuff like that and it’s kind of hard, but that’s the only thing that is really tough.”
Nasri is looking forward to resuming his partnership in midfield with Yaya Toure and David Silva, but can’t wait to play alongside new team-mates Raheem Sterling and De Bruyne having started just one game alongside each of the summer arrivals so far this campaign.
“It’s something I’m looking forward to,” he said. “I have a special connection with David and Yaya in midfield because we’ve played together for so many years and we are technical players.
“Kevin and Raheem have brought even more quality to the team and I’m looking forward to playing alongside them. I know Raheem a little bit more than Kevin because he arrived a bit earlier and Raheem has been saying I need to get back to he can play tiki-taka with him.”
With Nasri hoping to return for the last two months of the season, he says he would like nothing better to finish his career with the Blues, adding: “This Club is doing everything to be the most dominant in the world. We have an ambitious owner who tries to improve the team and facilities every single year.
“I have a great relationship with the Chairman. It’s not just City, with all the clubs around the world it’s like one big family. There are so many exciting things happening here. You never know what will happen in football, but it would be a pleasure to finish my career at City.”
