Nasri: Cesc Fabregas will make Chelsea the main threat

Samir Nasri reckons a familiar face could provide Manchester City with the biggest obstacle in the defence of their Premier League crown.

Having fought off Liverpool to win a thrilling title race on the final day in May, Nasri expects the real threat this season to come from Chelsea.

Jose Mourinho has been busy in the summer moulding the team into just how he wants it.

He raided Spanish champions Atletico Madrid for Filipe Luis and Diego Costa, and has even brought back Didier Drogba to Stamford Bridge.

Yet it’s the arrival of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona that stands out for Nasri. The pair were team-mates at Arsenal, and the Frenchman knows all about Fabregas’ qualities.

However, Nasri is not expecting the title to be a straightforward two-horse race.

“The Premier League will be tough this season,” he says. “Manchester United are going to be really dangerous because they are not playing in any European competition.

“There is Arsenal and Liverpool, even Tottenham, with their new manager.

“But Chelsea are the team who have caught my eye. They have done really well in the transfer market, buying the players from Atletico Madrid and Cesc Fabregas.

“Cesc will be the guy to replace Frank Lampard. He is a great player and I know him well from when I was at Arsenal.

“They lost Ashley Cole at left back and signed Filipe Luis. They also had a weakness up front and signed Diego Costa, who had a great season last year for Atletico.

“They did that really quickly as well, so the players have spent a lot of time together. So Chelsea will be really dangerous, and will be the biggest threat to us.

“Liverpool have signed a lot of players, but they have lost Luis Suarez and it is really hard to replace a guy like that.

“Arsenal have bought Alexis Sanchez. But for me they have a weakness at defensive midfield and at centre back.

“Sanchez has the quality and he’s a great player, but the Premier League is not La Liga. It is really, really hard.

“We expected a lot from Mesut Ozil last season, and at the start he was brilliant. In December, however, every league has a break but not in England where every match is tough.

“Mesut suffered, and the only player who came in from abroad and made an instant impact in his first full season was Sergio Aguero here at City. The rest have all had their ups and downs.”

Nasri comes up against his former club this afternoon in the Community Shield at Wembley.

It’s now three years since he left the Emirates, but there remains bad feeling about the manner of his departure. However, the midfielder is unequivocal about his reasons for going.

Two League winners’ medals and a Man-of-the-Match performance in last season’s Capital One Cup Final victory over Sunderland underline the footballing reasons for his move north. And Nasri insists that it’s time for the abuse from Gunners fans towards him to stop.

“It’s just stupid,” he argues. “I’m not an Arsenal fan, I’m not from London.

“If we’re being honest, we are players and we are just looking at what are in the best interests for us and our career.

“When Manchester City came in, it was the best choice for me to come here. I’ve won trophies and have a better life, so I am really happy.

“If the fans can’t move on, too bad. They do what they have to do and they love their club.

“They think I betrayed them but it’s not like that. I just look what’s best for me.

“That’s what Bacary Sagna did, and it was the same for Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure.

“For the fans, the only reason has to be the money. That is a factor, sure, but it isn’t just for the money.

“I am in debt to Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. I am this player today because of him.

“But I don’t think I need to explain myself all the time, and what I have done with Manchester City should be enough.”

While Nasri praises one French manager, he is less keen on Didier Deschamps, the coach of the French national team.

Deschamps refused to pick Nasri for the World Cup Finals, saying that he didn’t like Nasri’s attitude when he was only a substitute for the play-off game against Ukraine last November.

It was the latest in a number of incidents on international duty and it proved the final straw.

Nasri is now turning his back on France to concentrate all his efforts on his club career.

“It wasn’t hard watching the World Cup this summer,” he reflects. “That’s life. It wasn’t enough for this manager. He said I wasn’t happy when I was on the bench.

“But tell me one player who is happy when he’s on the bench, especially when you don’t understand the reason?

“I’m not bitter. I watched all of France’s games in the World Cup because I love football.

“I’ve made a decision on France. I was thinking about it in 2012 after the Euros, and now it’s just a confirmation of what I was thinking back then.

“I have just turned 27. But as long as Deschamps is the manager, I don’t have a shot after everything that’s happened.

“In 2016, I’ll be 29 and will have a chance to play in the European Championships, but the French national team doesn’t make me happy.

“Every time I go there, there is just more trouble. I face accusations about me and my family suffers from it.

“I don’t want that, so it’s better to stop and focus on my club career.”

n Samir Nasri was speaking at Manchester City’s Community Shield Media Day at Carrington, where he joined in to helped the Club’s Community Coaches train children from local schools and sports clubs.