Of Samir Nasri's 176 appearances for Manchester City, only one came under Pep Guardiola. Yet he was responsible for one of the more strange stories in Guardiola's nine-year tenure.
Nasri was a late substitute in Guardiola's third Premier League game before insisting on a loan move to Sevilla in order to seek a fresh start following a year of hamstring issues. It was in Spain where Nasri let slip that Guardiola banned his players from having sex after midnight in order to get the best night's sleep, regardless of if they were playing the next day.
Guardiola laughed off the comments. “It’s impossible to play good football if you don’t have sex with your partner," he joked. "I never did that and I would never ban that. If you are doing it, [then] better players!”
For that miscommunication to be the most notable connection between Guardiola and Nasri's short time together is telling. A prime Nasri would surely have slotted in perfectly to Guardiola's system, particularly in that first season when he was trying to impose his new ideas.
But Nasri wanted to make up for lost time, and went out on loan to Sevilla. "Guardiola wanted me to stay, but when your head needs a change, after five years in Manchester - where I had lots of injuries last season - I wanted to start something new and fresh," Nasri said on his arrival to Spain, who boasted current City assistant and close Guardiola confidante Juanma Lillo on their staff.
"I spoke with Guardiola and he told me what a great trainer Juanma Lillo was. This was all I needed to know. It was perfect for me."
A season in Spain followed and Guardiola was opening the chequebook ahead of a second season in which he would never look back. Nasri left permanently for Antalyaspor, with
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