Ante Palaversa still holds Man City dream as he explains why Aberdeen transfer is key to return

Ante Palaversa didn’t quite make the grade atManchester City but his goal is to try and win a move back to Pep Guardiola’s English champions.

City paid around £7million to land the talented Croatian from Hajduk Split in 2019 but he spent most of his time there out on loan, at the likes of Oostende, Getafe and Kortrijk, before he moved on to Troyes two years ago. Jimmy Thelin decided to take a chance on the playmaker and signed him on a deal until the end of the season with an option of another two years beyond that.

Now the 24-year-old is looking to get his career up and running at Aberdeen, in what he hopes will be a step back towards the big time. Palaversa admitted: "I was a teenager and of course it was exciting that a big club was coming for me. When I signed for Manchester City I knew I wanted to go to that place and to do well.

"It didn't work out but in a few years I still want to play there and I always keep that dream in my head. I hope being at Aberdeen can help as I want to play good, train well and help the team achieve goals this year.

"In the five years since I signed with them I've taken a lot of experience from playing in Belgium, Spain and France. They were of course difficult times but if you keep pushing yourself down then you are not going to go anywhere.

"I just love to play football and push myself on and that's what I'll do here. I think that what I've learned means that I'm in a good space at the moment and there's no point looking back.”

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